Newspaper Page Text
2A
JUNE 8, 2000
Local non-profits complain —
Politics plays role in funding process
B Two local public service agencies not happy
with city office that doles out CDBG funds.
By Rivers :
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
! AUGUSTA
I 4 business it’s said that “it’s not
whit you know, it’s who you know.”
\%’hen it comes to receiving fund
ing non-profitorganizationsin Rich
mod County say that without po
litical ties they are pushed aside,
andforced to“jump through hoops,”
sir&?ly to get money.
ounty departments like Hous
ingand Neighborhood Development,
whose mission is to support local
organizations with federal dollars,
saytheydon’t adheretobiased stan
dards, and designate funds equally
across the board.
Butlocalnon-profitsdisagree. And
twoparticular organizations are ac
cusing HND director Keven Mack,
andthe commission-appointed Citi
zens Advisory Committee, of play
ingpoliticswith federal grants, with-
Fire chief confidant the job is his
From page one
and was requested by The Times
editorial department.
Chief Few questioned the
writer’s motives, adding that Kent
obviously didn’t want to see him
leave the city on a positive note.
“It was written with malicious
intent to harm,” said the em
battled chief, who has overcome
his share of criticisms since be
coming Augusta’s first African-
American fire chiefin April 1997.
“I've heard Billy Morris speak
about Augusta’s progress and our
having the first black fire chiefis
a point he never hesitates to
make,” said the chief. Morris is
owner and publisher of The
Chronicle. “There’s not an ounce
of truth (in the letter). I have
explained the actions of the de
partment to the full commission,”
ho it e
en Few took over chief’s
Emerge
From page one
beldw the top publications aimed
at bjack audiences such as Ebony,
1.7 tnillion, and Essence, just over
1 z;illion.
y Johnson, the editorial direc
tor of Vanguarde, said the maga
zing was closed for “purely busi
ness reasons,” but he declined to
say how much money it waslosing.
Vanguarde is owned by BET
Holdings Inc., owner of the BET
cable network, and the Provender
Caplital Group, a private invest
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AUGUSTA FOCUS
holdinginformation and moneyfrom
smaller non-profit groups, and un
fairly designating portions of Com
munity Development Block Grant
funds to certain organizations. -
“Wewanttobetreated fairly,” said
Josalyn Gregory, executive director
of Communities in Schools, the larg
estnon-profitorganizationdedicated
toeliminatingilliteracyamongschool
childrenin Richmond County. “Last
week we didn’t even know they had
all this money to get rid of.”
HND had alittle over $1 million to
use or lose, and all of it still hasn’t
been allocated.
To be eligible for a share, non
profitorganizationswererequired to
have written a letter requesting ad
ditional funding. Allthose whowrote
letterswereplaced onthelatest CAC
agenda, and were asked to make a
presentation before the committee
in order to get a piece of the left over
funding pie, Mack said.
reigns in Augusta, the base an
nual salary for a firefighter was
about $19,000. Three years later,
starting pay has increased to
about $24,000, said the chief. He
has also created situations where
employees control their own eco
nomic destiny with increased
training. He’s also proud of ac
complishments like cross-train
ing firefighters with emergency
medical training and paramedic
studies; adding seven new fire
engines for an antiquated fleet
which featured a 1956- and 1970-
model vehicle; new, relaxed cot
ton-based uniformsinstead of un
comfortable, obsolete polyester
wear; instituted rope rescue and
water rescue units; synthetic fire
hoses to replace cotton hoses that
required constant washing to get
rid of mildew and smoke odors.
Importantly, the chief said he’s
removed a“glass ceiling” thatkept
blacks and women from-earning
promotions within the depart
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ClSofficialssubmitted aletter ask
ing for funding four months ago, but
were never placed on the agenda, or
told about the left over funds, Gre
gory said.
“Iputinarequestin February,and
he [Mack] said ‘well no, nowe’re not
considering those right now,” Gre
gory added. “Here it is June, and
theyforgotthatl asked forthemoney
already?”
Mack admits that could have hap
pened,butinsistsitwas anoversight
on the part of HND, and had nothing
to do with playing politics for or
against certain agencies.
“It is possible that we got bogged
down in paperwork, or overlooked
her request,” Mack said. “I don’t tell
the people on the advisory board to
give money to this organization or
not give money to this one. What we
do is submit the information to the
advisory committee. These people
have independent minds and they
make their recommendations.”
But of the $570,000 that was des
ignated duringthe Wednesday, May
31 citizens advisory meeting, 35 per
ment. Significantly, the accom
plishments have occurred even
though his budget in the county
neverincreased and remained flat
at sls million since 1997, he said.
The 1999 fire department budget
in Washington was reportedly
slll million.
The chief also displayed his ini
tiative as a trend-setter when he
instituted the position of Public
Information Officer (PIO) for the
fire department — a first for Rich
mond County. Chief Few consid
ers PIO Katrice Bryant as a vital
cog in his departmental engine,
and has made arrangements for
her position to continue in D.C.
“It’sher decision, but I would hope
she would considered the move,”
said the chief. The fire depart
ment PIO is a county position
locally, one that Chief Few feels
should remain to help ensure suc
cess for his successor. e
Christiansaid the chief’s effec
tive hire date in D.C. is Monday,
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Ty T o e T,
cent was given to an organization
whose representatives did not putin
arequest for funding, or appear be
fore the Citizens Advisory Commit
tee, according to information gath
ered from HND.
Threeorganizations—Armstrong
Galleria Phase Two Improvements
Project, Golden Harvest Food Bank,
and ARC Parks and Recreation —
received funds. Ofthose, onlyrepre
sentatives from Armstrong Galleria
failed to contact Mack or appear be
fore the board, HND officials said.
Instead Mack“justtold metoplace
them on the agenda,” according to
HND sources.
No one from the Laney Walker
Development Corporation, which is
in charge of the Armstrong Galleria
Phase 2 improvements project, was
available for comments.
Gregory, and Augusta Task Force
for the Homeless director Sharon
Childs Caldwell, say that favoritism
from HND toward certain organiza
tions causes theirs to suffer.
“The discouraging part is that the
powers that be don’t recognize and
July 10. Although the 13-member
city council must still approve
Chief Few’s position, Christian
offered no doubts that the chief’s
appointment is a done deal. The
chiefis expected to earn $130,000
annually, up from the $85,000 he
makes in Augusta. Concerning
possiblereplacements, Chief Few
said Augusta is now considered a
“progressive” department and the
job is more attractive than it was
before he arrived. Along with “a
couple” of qualified in-house can
didates, the chiefsaid at least two
African-American women have
expressed interest in the job.
“Augusta-Richmond County
was a great opportunity for
growth,” said the 47-year-old At
lanta native. “I have mixed emo
tions and I'll miss my staff. But
this is a chance to work with a
very smart and humble man —
Mayor Williains, and Deputy
Mayor Christiah. My workisdone
here,” said the chief.
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acknowledge that this task force is
rapidly becoming an organization
that Augusta needs,” Caldwell, who
was also denied the opportunity to
ask for more funding, said. “There
are eight other homeless coalitions
in Georgia, and they are all greatly
supported by theirlocal government.
Much more so than the support that
we get in Augusta.”
But Mack blames that, in large
part, on the size of Augusta, and the
limited resources Richmond County
receives from Housing and Urban
Development.
“Only 15 percent of the TDBG
funds can be awarded to public ser
vices,” Mack said. “[Who gets it] is
just a decision that has to be made.
While I wish we had enough re
sources to fund everybody that sub
mits applications, at this point it’s
impossible.”
Butright now HND seems tohave
CDBG funds to burn.
As of December of last year the
department was more than $1 mil
lion over budget, rounding out the
yearwith ss,976,B26insurplusfunds,
some of which has not been desig
nated to any organizations, accord
ing to White.
“HUDiscontinuouslythreatening
torecapturethosefunds,”she added.
Museum documents struggle
From page one
est city.
“Albany was an example of how
to bring an entire community to
gether,” said museum curator An
gela Whitmal. “You had people of
all ages, people representing every
economiclevel. It showed you could
mobilize the black communityin a
big way.”
The front half of the sanctuaryis
preserved as it was when King
prayed and spoke there on the
evening of Dec. 15, 1961. Plucky
“Freedom Songs” drift through the
museum from loudspeakers. Visi
tors can sit on the old wooden pews
and read about the struggle.
The rear half of the room is filled
with displays. There’s a picture of
King having a discussion with the
city’spolice chief, Laurie Pritchett,
who had studied the civil rights
leader’s tactics and used them to
help Albany avoid national and
international media attention.
Another picture shows a blood
ied civil rights worker, attorney
C.B. King, who was struck in the
head by a billy club in the county
jail.
The museum, which opened late
in 1998, drew 6,000 visitors last
year and expects the same this
year.
One exhibit focuses on the im
portance of the “Freedom Songs”
that played a key role in the civil
rights movement. Members of the
Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee adopted the singing
style, born in Albany’s black
churches, and sang them at fund
raisers around the country.
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Inaddition,MackorderedtheCAC
to only use $221,426 of the remain
ing reprogrammed CDBG funds,
leaving almost $300,000 unteuched.
The money that is allocated can only
be given to organizations that use
fundsfor public services, White said.
“I'm not sure what the rest of that !
money is going to be used for,” White,
explained. “I don't see why he just
doesn’t allow the rest of the funding
to be used for anything other than
public services.”
In the mean time organizations
like Gregory’s continue to scramble 1
for funding,and thefact thattheyget
solittle in local funding, makes their
fight for state and federal dollars.
that much harder.
“If we can’t even get local funding,
federal and state funders look at us
and think, Ts you can’t even get local
support, what are you looking at us
for,” Gregory explained.
Overthepasttwoyearsthieamount
of local funding designated to CIS
has steadily gone down, dropping by
almost SIO,OOO.
“Instead of looking at whose been
around for the longest amount of
time, or whois known and whois not
known, the advisory board should
examine who is doing the most with
their money,” Gregory said.
A local group of Freedom Sing
ers, many of whom took part in the
movement, give performances at
the museum on the second Satur
day of each month. -
“That musicjust inspired people
torisk arrest,” said Lee Formwalt,
an authority on the Albany Move
ment and a founder of the mu
seum.
Ms. Whitmal said the Albany
Movement was significant because
it influenced blacks throughout
southwest Georgia, a largely rural
area where racism was heavily
entrenched.
“They felt empowered by what
was going on,” she said. “It lit a
spark.”
Formwalt, whotaught historyat
Albany State University for 22
years and now is executive direc
tor of the Organization of Ameri
can Historians in Bloomington,
Ind., said King’s failure to elimi
nate Albany’s segregation ordi
nances was a setback.
“He was invited into town. He
preaches, he marches, he gets ar
rested and then they make a deal
with the local officials,” Formwalt
said. “Thelocal officialsrenege and
nothing changes.”
King was arrested in December,
1961, and returned in July for a
court appearance. To bolster the
movement, he and the Rev. Ralph
David Abernathy opted for jail,
rather than a fine. Eventually, a
wealthy white man paid the fine
and won their release.
“When he leaves in August, not
much has changed as far as official
segregation,” Formwalt said. “His
torians saw this as a story of just
how intransigent racism was in a
place like Albany.”