Amid a debate over ethical reforms and non-bidding contracts, City Commissioner Jack Porter recommended an unapplied grant of $ 150,000 to Tallahassee Legal Aid, a Carrie Litherland nonprofit group that supported Porter’s 2020 City Commission campaign.
The grant was intended for the operation of a municipal identification program.
Records show that Litherland – the executive director of Legal Aid of Tallahassee – donated $ 250 to Porter’s campaign and was listed as the community leader advocating Porter’s 2020 candidacy.
Public records also indicate that City Commissioner Porter was instrumental in identifying Tallahassee Legal Aid as a potential sole source of supply.
The motion listing the vendor and cost of the program was approved 4: 1 at the Tallahassee City Commission meeting on September 22nd. Mayor John Dailey voted no as details of how the program was run were not provided.
While discussing the motion, the mayor and city commissioners endorsed the city’s ID program, but asked several questions about supplier selection and a two-year commitment of $ 150,000 on a program that may not be of much benefit.
When Commissioner Dianne Williams-Cox proposed a pilot program that the City of Tallahassee could end based on performance, Commissioner Porter clarified that Tallahassee City Legal Aid would require a two-year financial commitment to recruit a person to run the program.
During the discussion it was also revealed that the City of Tallahassee has not yet had a formal application for legal aid
The adopted motion directed city officials to negotiate a mutual legal aid contract that will include performance milestones at the request of Commissioner Williams-Cox.
It is not clear whether the negotiated contract must be approved by the Tallahassee City Commission or can be terminated if ID cards are not required.
Selection of the provider
The idea of a city ID program was launched by Commissioner Porter at the end of the city commission meeting on April 7th. The commission unanimously voted to instruct staff to bring an item of information back for discussion.
The item was next added to the city commission’s agenda on April 21, and the commission voted 5-0 to instruct staff to reflect specific options related to the program. However, no specific providers were mentioned in Commissioner Porter’s request.
At the Tallahassee City Commission on September 8, during the “exchange of views” part of the meeting, Commissioner Porter informed the commission that she had been working to find a community partner for the program.
Porter informed the Commission that Tallahassee Legal Aid had been in contact with Tallahassee City officials regarding the implementation of the program. Porter filed a motion for city officials to work with Tallahassee Legal Aid and bring an item back at the next city commission meeting. The motion, which was not related to the cost of the program, was approved 5-0 and resulted in an item on the agenda of September 22nd, which was approved 4-1.
Cost of the program
Tallahassee Reports asked for the documentation showing the $ 150,000 two-year cost of the program and learned that the cost was based on an oral estimate by Legal Aid Director Carrie Litherland.
The $ 150,000 price tag does not match the cost of other ID programs implemented in Florida.
For example, in Alachua County, which has a population of 269,000, a non-governmental local provider manages the day-to-day running of the ID program without government funding. Tallahassee City officials reported in their analysis that the Alachua County government made no financial contributions to initiate the ID program. The city of Gainesville did not provide funding either.
The Alachua County program has been in existence as of February 2020 with around 1,000 cardholders, which is around 0.3% of the population.
In 2019, several Palm Beach County cities passed resolutions accepting the validity of resident cards issued by a community provider.
The city of West Palm Beach made a one-time donation of $ 40,000 for the program. In 2021, Palm Beach County approved a one-time grant of $ 75,000 after the program started. A total of $ 115,000 was allocated for a population of 1,479,000.
In three years, around 3,000 of Palm Beach County’s 1,479,000 residents have applied for ID. That’s about 0.2% of the population.
In contrast, when voting, the city of Tallahassee is allocating $ 75,000 per year for two years to market identity cards to a population of approximately 190,000. If about 1,000 request the cards – as in Alachua County – the cost would be $ 150 per ID.
from Daily Florida Press https://dailyfloridapress.com/commissioner-porter-recommends-150000-no-bid-grant-to-campaign-donor-led-group-tallahassee-reports/
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