by Jeremy Morrison
Following the Pensacola City Council’s decision last week to audit a local organization serving the homeless community, Mayor Grover Robinson said Monday that it looked like Re-entry Alliance Pensacola (REAP) was addressing issues raised by city officials.
“They had totally complied with all the code enforcement issues that were brought to their attention,” Robinson said during his weekly press conference.
City Councilman Delarian Wiggins last week voiced concerns about conditions at the REAP-operated homeless camp on West Blount Street. With $42,000 of federal funds directed toward the organization by the city, council members decided to conduct an audit of the funds. REAP, meanwhile, has changed management at the camp.
Mayor Robinson said Monday that he felt the camp had been operating smoothly and was not sure what happened in August, during a time frame during which it has been alleged that the camp was not kept in a sanitary condition.
“It certainly has been functioning very well while it’s been open. It was not functioning well in August; I don’t know what the case was. Obviously they’ve changed management,” Robinson said, adding that the camp’s former manager, Melissa Johnson, had been “incredibly helpful” in the city’s mission to work with the local homeless community but that perhaps she wasn’t the right fit for the REAP site: “I don’t know, maybe her talents lay in a different place other than camp management.”
Robinson said that he also felt that REAP’s camp should host a limited population.
“I think the camp can function well,” the mayor said. “I think the camp needs to function with a lot fewer people, and I think REAP also agrees that the number of people they should be handling is smaller.”
Mayor Robinson also said that the city’s code enforcement department would be a regular visitor to the REAP homeless camp, which he thinks will help ensure that conditions at the camp remain up to snuff.
“Just stop by there, proactively, and see what’s going on,” Robinson said. “We don’t normally do that, but in this case, because of things that have happened, we’re more than happy to take a little bit of a proactive look and just stop by and see what’s going on every week and checking those things out.”
These regular visits from code enforcement, the mayor said, will not be serving as the additional oversight that the city council requested last week. The oversight of operations, he clarified, falls to REAP.
“We have contracted with REAP. REAP needs to provide the oversight; they need to do something like that,” the mayor said. “I think what code enforcement does is to make sure that they’re are no violations that we know that are there and perhaps not being addressed.”
Funding in the Future
There is about $3 million worth of federal funds — stemming from the pandemic-era American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA funding — floating around, benefiting efforts to address the issue of homelessness. The city of Pensacola provided these federal funds to be used towards this effort. Monday, Mayor Robinson said it would be up to future elected officials to ensure that new funding is found so that such efforts can continue for the long term.
“What we were able to do with ARPA gave us a couple of years, and what will have to happen is future councils, future mayors will have to figure out how that gets incorporated into the budget,” Mayor Robinson said.
In particular, the mayor said, the incoming administration of mayor-elect D.C. Reeves will need to wrap its arms around the issue of homelessness and the related issue of affordable housing.
“The whole idea is that this is going to take the next administration. This is going to be a big issue for them,” Robinson said. “Between where they go with the permanent situation of homelessness and where they go with affordable housing, it’s going to be a challenging part on both fronts, but I think we’ve got it set in the right direction on both points.”
Actively pursuing solutions on the multiple fronts of this issue, the mayor stressed, will be key.
“The hard part about homelessness is not any one thing, the hard part is that you’re having to do multiple things at one time,” he said. “You’ve got to be doing all of it at the same time.”
Soccer Season Kick-off
This Thursday, the city will hold a formal ribbon-cutting for the Hitzman Optimist Park Soccer Field. The new soccer complex off of Langley Avenue has been in play for a while, but this is the facility’s official kick-off.
“We were able to get some play done last year, but we had a number of other things we were working through — obviously, still continuing to go through some COVID things, so we did not do as much of a recognition as we wanted to,” Robinson said.
Pointing to the rise of youth soccer over recent years, as well as the in-the-works women’s team at Pensacola State College, Mayor Robinson said he was glad to see the city investing in the sport and hoped the new facility on Langley Avenue would help continue to foster the sport locally.
“It’s just amazing to see [how] soccer has taken off and what it continues to do,” the mayor said. “I think soccer, like no other, is a great sport that offers opportunity for play regardless of gender — in fact, it’s very active, both men’s and women’s — so, again very excited to see this sport doing so well. We’re excited to see it happening with such strength here in the city of Pensacola.”
As I sat in the auditorium last week at my first city council meeting watching Robinson honor a young cancer survivor,and he said Pensacola takes care of its children, something like that. What about the children in Camp SOS ,from March thru June, who had to share an outside shower with 20+ adults, some sleep on tent floor without cots,had to pick up trash,unload trailers,and cars,sort cloths,clean the kitchen…. These are good kids,polite,smart,loving kids too. I love Pensacola,and I believe Pensacola would love on all the children if they only knew the truth!
REAP: Johnson told WEAR that she secretly recorded a conversation with Whibbs. Bergosh printed extracts from that recording on his blog. Johnson told WKRG that the day prior to the conversation above she had another conversation with Whibbs. She didn’t say if she recorded that conversation. She did tell WKRG that during the earlier meeting her phone was on and one of her board members was listening in. Based on Johnson’s own statements, there must be probable cause for the PPD to at least look into it a little bit.
Soccer: Robinson insisted that putting the soccer complex in Hitzman Park would reduce the number of vehicles on Langley Avenue. Well, did it? Robinson, a failed realtor, also insisted that the soccer complex would increase the property values of properties near it? At the time, I recall a realtor testified at a council meeting saying that he was a fool. Well, did property values near Hitzman Park go up more than normal because of the soccer fields? City staff should be able to figure it out with the Property Appraiser.
Also it seems odd the Pensacola would fund Vince Whibbs Jr after he served time for misappropriation of fund prior regarding a non profit. Just looked him up on Pensapedia. If that is correct, he was convicted and jailed. Is that the only services Pensacola can offer. One can look up HUD. They have programs in place. Maybe that is something the transition team should address ASAP. IN.THE. SUNSHINE. Let’s hear that podcast. DC. https://www.pensapedia.com/wiki/Vince_Whibbs,_Jr.
If you read that arrest report it sounds like sexual favors are being traded around those camps but looks like a two way street. Looks like this guy Kevin was mad the girl with the braids had another man helping her with getting a car. Yet she still called him for gas money.
The underbelly of life in the city. Maybe she should get a job.
Grover has shorttimers disease, he got them out from under the overpass so he could build a skatepark, as planned.
Not very professional, maybe feds need to take a look.
Just pretty trashy all around.
The best way for the county to spend the remaining federal dollars is the carefully check the HUD requirements and the CDBG money they received.
Rick, with all the people throwing around threats of suits on people whistleblowing the REAP situation, I hope you’ll put up this correction on Kevin Eason’s charges: I believe it was a first-degree misdemeanor (with the F on the report standing for “first” rather than “felony”).
I also posted the deputy’s account from the arrest report. Horrible, and REAP was mentioned as the victim had been homeless and knew Kevin Eason as “Director of Operations” for REAP.
Sitting here at a loss for how to adequately voice my disgust with this presser. It boils down to three things:
1. Grover Robinson is full of ****.
2. He can head to my Facebook to see the mugshot of the new REAP management he’s bragging on (Kevin Eason’s felony battery with bodily harm, last month).
3. THE SOS CAMP AND THE MAXWELL CENTER NEED TO BE SHUT DOWN *IMMEDIATELY* UNTIL SUCH TIME THAT EXPERIENCED, PROPERLY LICENSED AND CREDENTIALED MANAGEMENT IS IN PLACE WITH PROFESSIONAL, LEGAL POLICIES.
Here are some more questions the press can ask Grover.
1. Will he consider apologizing to potential abuse victims for using them as props during the last City Hall meeting?
2. Why was he so desperate, along with City Councilpeople who tend to help him do his dirty work, to keep Delarian Wiggins’s request for a TOTAL look into REAP’s management to an insufficient financial looksie?
3. Does it bother him that the PPD is shaping up to be complicit in potential criminal activity on the part of REAP management?
4. Why does he insist on continuing to paint this as a code issue when it is a humanitarian crisis?
5. Is he proud of a police chief who made a financial audit sound like something that would be overburdening the PPD? (How can cops be expected to deal with paperwork and potential crime.)
6. Is he aware that REAP management might have backdated paperwork that went into HMIS when they learned the state would be visiting?
7. Is he aware of the horrendous scenario taking place at the Maxwell Center?
8. What does he know about REAP management taking food and other donations and not giving it to the homeless it was intended for?
9. Is he cool with REAP management locking campers inside with insufficient emergency procedures and materials?
10. Why hasn’t he addressed the problem of hospitals dropping desperately sick and disabled patients off to REAP facilities with no treatment?
11. Why was Melissa Johnson allowed to continue in her role after she was caught smoking pot with clients?
12. Why was Laura Kennedy allowed to continue in her role after Vince Whibbs had to send an apology letter to a volunteer for physically assaulting her?
13. We’ll make it a baker’s dozen with a final question of whether he recognizes everybody knows he’s full of ****.