by David Ball
Staff Writer
City Council member Denise Lee told the Finance Committee Monday to hold its vote on a license agreement for a non-profit organization to operate a community center at Simonds-Johnson Park until she could read the entire agreement.
The ordinance would also reimburse former Jacksonville Jaguars player Tony Boselli and his foundation for $25,000 in renovations already completed at the Westside park, which is in Lee’s District 8.
The 10-year lease would give use of the community center for $1 a year to Boselli’s foundation, which is an affiliate of Youth Life Foundation of Tennessee, which was founded by Darrell Green, a longtime player with the Washington Redskins who has since retired. Other Youth Life Learning Centers have been established in Washington, D.C., Virginia, North Carolina and Orlando.
According to the City’s Web site, “the Youth Life Learning Center will provide academic enrichment, character development, educational resources and family/community involvement activities with the goals of improving academic readiness and performance, providing a source of positive activities and role models for youth and improving community pride and spirit.”
Boselli said he is already running an after-school program for about 16 children in grades K-5, but the goal is to do much more.
“It’s frustrating that we’ve come to a place that was empty...and had thousands and thousands of dollars put in and we can only work with 16 kids,” Boselli told the Committee. “We’ve waited 18 months and were told one thing after another. My confidence has been shaken.”
But after the Committee voted to approve the agreement anyway, Lee pointed the finger at Mayor John Peyton’s policy chief, Adam Hollingsworth, for what she called attempts to push through the legislation without properly involving the public.
“This is his plan. You (Hollingsworth) don’t want the community involved,” said Lee, citing the debate over the new city fees as a recent example. “If he was sincere, he would want the Council member (in that district) to review these documents.”
Hollingsworth said the legislation was introduced on Oct. 9 and that Lee was provided with multiple copies and even provided feedback to city staff.
Lee said she hadn’t had time to fully review the agreement due to the busy budget process, and she didn’t see the substitute version of the agreement that was before the Committee until that morning.
“I did not have the opportunity to review the lease,” she said. “I wanted to make sure the community would still have access to the center.”
Lee was worried some of the Youth Life Foundation’s activities would override uses by the public. Hollingsworth said that would occur only for a few hours during the after school program each day and any expansion of those uses would have to gain City approval.
“It’s the same as all the community centers in the city. The only difference is, it isn’t fully staffed (by the City), because we simply don’t have the money,” said Hollingsworth. “Boselli is proving $125,000 a year to operate it, and that’s what we’re talking about. I hate that this issue has risen to a dispute.”
Lee said she wanted to take the agreement to ministers and other prominent figures in her community to check the language before Tuesday’s City Council meeting. Committee members Stephen Joost and Kevin Hyde said they would support a deferral if Lee guaranteed she could come to a consensus by then.
But Lee’s motion to defer failed 3-3, and the following vote to approve the agreement as written passed 5-1.
“Your action just moved this issue forward. It didn’t end the discussion that still needs to happen,” said Hollingsworth. “I don’t view this as a victory on the part of the administration.”