A.G. Gancarski
After a budget presentation that saw draconian cuts imposed on the Friends of Hemming Park, with $250,000 of new money allocated in Lenny Curry‘s new budget, the Jacksonville City Council took some whacks at the pinata.
A new council auditor’s report on FOHP detailed lots of incidental spending, including on coffee and meals that members of the council thought were out of scope.
The major problem?
“As of May 31, 2016, it appears as though FOHP was insolvent.”
Average monthly expenses ranged between $65,000 to $75,000, claimed the auditor’s report, a number that would quickly eat up the $100,000 allocation authorized by Council earlier this summer, and that would require continual allocations along those lines.
Council members Garrett Dennis, Joyce Morgan, and Matt Schellenberg, in the Monday meeting of the Neighborhoods, Community Investments, and Services committee raised serious questions about the feasibility of FOHP in the context of this audit and burgeoning concerns related to it.
While there was some pushback — including Councilman Reggie Brown noting that conditions had improved — other council members noted that during weekday afternoons and on Sunday, Hemming Park looked the same as it had before.
After the NCIS meeting, FloridaPolitics.com caught up with Councilman Dennis, who noted that he supported the mayor’s move to cut funding to $250,000, adding that “as council members, we have an obligation to scrutinize the budget even more.”
Why? In large part, because the council audit exposed a pattern of expensing walking-around money, including personal meals, cups of coffee, and other expenditures out of the scope of what the council expected from FOHP.
As Dennis detailed the spending, the small expenses added up to a larger pattern of profligacy.
“Multiple line items,” Dennis noted, “for food, coffee,” and other expenses, some of them multiple times a day, including some of the better restaurants downtown, such as the tony Cafe Nola near City Hall, and drinks at high-end bars, like a $36 expenditure at Volstead downtown, known for its cocktail confections, its retro atmosphere, and its specialty brands.
When asked if Vince Cavin and Friends of Hemming Park were using their money as a slush fund, Dennis allowed that some may think there’s the “appearance of it” and that he wants a “deeper explanation” of what “appears to be frivolous spending.”
Dennis noted a “responsible business owner or nonprofit CEO” would likely pause before spending finite funds on avoidable expenses not directly connected to the stated mission of Friends of Hemming Park.
Then Dennis returned to the expenses, taking issue with purchases from IKEA in Orlando and “travel for IKEA,” noting that “paying for delivery would probably be much cheaper.”
Even a $9.66 expense for coffee at a Detroit Starbucks caught Dennis’ notice, as “expensive coffee” for Cavin.
“You can draw conclusions that this is a slush fund,” Dennis said.
“I want to stop short of saying that,” the councilman added. However, “perception is reality.”
With a bill authorizing $150,000 of additional money for Hemming Park deferred in committee, it has become increasingly apparent that just as FOHP lacks operational capital, its political capital is dwindling faster than it can be replenished.
Meanwhile, the Council Auditor’s report revealed that, despite a million dollars going into FOHP since late 2014, the fiscal situation has been hand to mouth.
In late May, FOHP had $17,262 cash on hand.
Meanwhile, a selected consecutive year of the auditor’s report revealed that of $954,000 expended, $425,000 went into contractual services, a category which runs the gamut.
Whereas landscaping got $22,551 and the sheriff’s office got $23,916, other expenses were more nebulous.
$5,000 went to artist Shaun Thurston for “mural painting in the park.”
$4,195 went to EMTs for “Pogopalooza.” And “XPogo” got $11,000 for that same event.
The biggest spend? Over $160,000 to Downtown Vision.
This report will be discussed in more detail Wednesday during the Finance Committee meeting.
