The Escambia Children’s Trust Board expressed its discomfort with how its staff is handling the “single source” grant process. The discussion came after the board voted unanimously to ask the Florida Attorney General for an opinion on whether Trust funds can be used to buy property to create a children’s resource center.
- Board member David Peaden challenged how Executive Director Tammy Greer has handled “single source” grant requests, particularly those involving Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, Studer Community Institute, and the City of Pensacola. Single source requests are those made with the assumption that only one entity can provide the service.
“I think our board gets put in difficult positions at times because things at the beginning do not get stopped, and it then it makes its way to the board,” said Peaden.
He added that he foresees two future requests from Pensacola State College and Warrington Preparatory Academy that will cause problems. “I sometimes feel like it’s whack-a-mole. Each month there’s something different that we’re putting out a fire, and it’s not a very good position to be in.”
Lack of Trust History Blamed
“I go off of what our colleagues, what our sister programs, have funded because if they funded it, then it would appear that we could also fund it,” she said.
“I don’t feel comfortable being the gatekeeper for these programs without it coming to the board. That’s why I bring everything to the board. And that’s the way that our policy currently reads. So if you all want to put some restrictions around what comes to the board, I would very much appreciate those guardrails being in place.”
Board member Keith Leonard, who is the interim school superintendent, recommended that Greer run all “single source” requests by the board’s attorney before sending them to the program committee.
Peaden said to Greer, “I look at Rick Harper at Triumph (Gulf Coast). When people call Rick Harper and say,’I wanna do this economic development project,’ he will tell him, ‘We cannot do that, or ‘yes, we can.’ And you’ve used the word “Switzerland” before, but I think we rely on you to be that voice and that gatekeeper to tell people.
- “If you tell ’em, ‘no,’ we have public forum, and they can come here and address the whole board.”
Greer said that she daily receives phone calls and emails about possible projects. She said, “I have a standard email that I send out to people because some things are very clearly something that would lend themselves.”
She added, “Until the board grants me the authority, I don’t feel that I have the authority to say ‘no’ to something that has been funded elsewhere. I want you all to decide if that’s something you wanna do. And so I promise that I will continue to work with you all, and I will take whatever direction you give me. And I do want to narrow this, but some of this, we’re just gonna have to push through it because it’s gonna be hard. And we’re going to continue to get all these requests.”
Pushback from Community
Peaden pushed back. He said high-level people at the city told him that she was good with the resource center; Escambia County Sheriff’s Office was told what they wanted could be done, and “Studer Community Institute, same scenario.”
- He said, “And so it’s like a pattern of the feedback – Tammy is telling us to apply for this. Tammy’s telling us how to do this. And then we get into meetings and Tammy says, ‘Well, maybe we can’t do this.’ …It makes it problematic when we’re trying to make decisions and we get different information.”
Greer denied that she had approved the City’s request. “I said, again, it is not up to me. Can they present whatever they want? Absolutely. I could get a proposal for us to build a circus tent. I can’t stop what comes in the door. Do I tell people that they can submit proposals to us? I absolutely 100% do.”
- The executive director said she met with Sheriff Simmons about his Blazer Academy, and the sheriff presented something different.
In the end, Greer said she supported getting legal counsel. “What Mr. Leonard proposed is a very good idea because then I can run it by Meredith (attorney) and then she can say, ‘You know what, this isn’t sole source because we could put an RFP out.'”
Mayor’s Frustration
At his press conference this morning, Mayor D.C. Reeves expressed his frustration with Greer and her staff.
“Frustrating would be an understatement,” said the mayor. “Candidly, at every turn, I think we’ve put a really good team together of supporters of this – the city, the county, Community Health, Lakeview. We even have had some preliminary conversations with Baptist property-wise about around the building.
“I just continue to feel misguided at the staff level about what is expected of us. After our first meeting, we get an email, it sounds great. We put in an application, it sounds great. Then we go to a meeting and for the first time – all of us that are trying to put something that’s good for the community – hear about something we’d never heard before in the middle of a public meeting, that there’s a legal issue or there’s a legal question.”
“I’ve just never had an experience where I’m learning about things that were question marks from staff when that staff is presenting it to the board for the first time.”