by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
In September, Debbie Verges retired — sort of.
After 24 years and six different Boys and Girls Clubs, Verges decided it was time to move on. She set up shop in her Ponte Vedra home and formed Debbie Verges Consulting. The idea was to work more part-time than full-time and capitalize on her degree in recreation and her years of working with youth and nonprofits.
Then, Mayor John Peyton came calling. Today, Verges is the project director of the Jacksonville Journey, Peyton’s anticrime, education initiative designed to improve public safety through three areas: prevention, intervention and enforcement.
After initiating the Journey, Peyton then tapped the expertise of the over 100 of Jacksonville’s top business, civic and faith leaders who were assigned to committees. The members consisted of everyone from former State Sen. Betty Holzendorf and (Ret.) Ambassador John Rood — who chaired the Steering Committee — to developer J.B. Coxwell to former Jacksonville Jaguar Tony Boselli and everyone in between.
The committees met for over four months and produced tens of millions of dollars worth of recommendations, of which $31 million was approved by City Council for the 2008-09 budget year. It’s the job of Verges and the full-time City staff to assure those funds are spent as they were intended. Peyton and Council President Ronnie Fussell also appointed a nine-member Oversight Committee that will evaluate the effectiveness of the funded programs. Pending Council confirmation, each member of the Oversight Committee will be appointed to staggered four-year terms and may serve a maximum of two terms. Former United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida Paul Perez will chair the Oversight Committee.
“I will work with the Oversight Committee and make sure we are meeting deliverables established by City Council,” said Verges.
The keys to the Journey’s first-year success, said Verges, is making sure each funded recommendation has been “performed as has been prescribed.” If that doesn’t happen, she said, funding for the 2009-10 year won’t be an issue.
“We want to focus on now,” said Verges. “We want to get the contracts awarded and the money on the street. I will run the program as it was intended. Then, we will make the case that the money was well spent.”
Peyton said this step within the Journey is essential to assuring the program continues. He also wants to make sure the thousands of volunteer hours performed by the various Journey committees don’t go for naught.
“Improving public safety and setting our city on a course for greatness continues to be the most immediate priority of this government,” said Peyton, in a statement. “I am very proud of the team we have assembled to begin the next leg of this journey — matching funding to strong, effective programs that demonstrate success. The Jacksonville Journey members spent months creating an action plan for results and this team has the skills and knowledge to help implement measurements and an oversight system to ensure a safer community.”
Verges said the opportunity came at the right time and she feels as though she has the professional background to make the first year effective. In addition to her 24 years with the Boys and Girls Clubs (she actually started when they were just Boys Clubs), Verges has a master’s degree in parks and recreation and while in Las Vegas she ran a juvenile detention facility.
“There are many aspects (of the Journey) I was part of in my 24-year career,” she said.
Fussell said he and Peyton were looking to create a committee that was a combination of those who had already worked on Journey initiatives and those who could bring a fresh perspective to the Oversight Committee.
“The logic was to have some who worked on the (Journey) committee to bring some continuity and the new faces are those who work around youth,” said Fussell, adding they also need people who know how to raise money, especially from the private sector. “That’s the diversity we wanted to get.”
356-2466