by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
The Jacksonville Children’s Commission has cleared some bureaucratic hurdles to get $4 million in funding, and now appears to be running in the clear toward funding the mayor’s Literacy Campaign.
The money had been held up as the City’s Finance Department, General Counsel’s Office and City Council tried to figure out the best route from the mayor’s budget into the hands of the JCC. Finally, a few well-placed calls from the mayor’s communications chief, Susie Wiles, cut through the red tape.
Wiles sent out an e-mail last week detailing the JCC’s problems. CEO Linda Lanier was getting conflicting advice from different City officials about how to get the funds. Lanier said she was getting worried because several non-profits had already begun work on the mayor’s campaign and needed to be paid.
“I’ve worked in non-profits before, and I know they don’t have the cash reserves to go out for 30 or 60 days without pay,” said Lanier.
JCC also paid out of its own pocket for several meetings of the mayor’s book club. Now that the money’s available, Lanier said the JCC can settle its tab with the non-profits and move ahead with the Literacy Campaign.
The money is a large chunk of the campaign’s $10 million budget. The money already spent has allowed non profits to help child care centers create what Lanier called “a literacy rich environment.” She said child care providers would be coached on more effective teaching skills.
The campaign will also rate the centers, letting parents know which are the most effective teachers, and start up pilot programs in neglected neighborhoods. Those programs will teach health and family interaction along with reading.
An admitted novice to the City’s budget appropriation process, Lanier said she thought the money had to be placed into a JCC account for the commission to have access. The City Council filed a bill to that effect last week. But it turned out the money could stay in the City’s general fund so long as Lanier was given signatory authority over it. Essentially she’s been given the power to write checks from that portion of the City’s account.
Following Wiles’ communications, members of the mayor’s staff got together with the Council and General Counsel’s Office to give JCC spending authority. The funding problems had dragged on for weeks, but the situation was resolved one day after Wiles sent the e-mail.
Lanier said she’d learned an important lesson about doing business on City Hall’s fourth floor.
“Susie gets it done,” she said.