Florida Crown Gets Clean Bill of Health
$770,615 in stimulus money on the way
Columbia County, FL (posted March 23, 2009)
By Stew Lilker
Photo: Florida Crown meets
for its quarterly meeting. At the end of the table are
Executive Director,
John Chastain (left) and Larry Thompson (right) Chairman
of the Board.
Florida Crown Workforce Board, Inc. (FCWB) is the service provider for
the four (4) rural counties of Columbia, Dixie,
Gilchrist and Union, encompassing a total population
of approximately 98,000. This four county region has
been specifically identified
by the
Governor as a Rural Area of Critical Economic
Concern (RACEC) due to the fact that the region has
failed to keep pace with the rest of the State of
Florida in terms of economic growth.
The unemployment rate, according to Enterprise
Florida statistics, is higher than the State’s
average and the per capita income is lower.
The region’s wages are currently estimated to
be twenty percent (20%) lower than the national
average. In
the past, the area’s economy has been largely
agricultural based.
As population has increased, available
agricultural acreage has diminished creating a
critical need for diverse employment opportunities
producing a living wage.
John Chastain
This past Thursday, March 19th at 4:00pm,
Florida
Crown Workforce Board met for their quarterly meeting at
their headquarters in Lake City. The presentation of the
annual independent audit report gave the Workforce Board
a clean bill of health and the Executive Director’s
report was packed with information. At the end of the
meeting, Board Chairman Larry Thompson went over the
issue that is on everybody’s mind, the Columbia County
Board of Commissioners.
Once again, Florida Crown came through their annual
audit with flying colors. The Annual Financial Audit
performed by James Moore & Co., found no disallowed
costs and other than a couple of minor problems caused
by staff constraints and an accounting software problem
there were no issues of any substance.
Mr. John Chastain’s Executive Director's Report was
packed full of useful information, touching on the
economy and its impact in the region; Florida Crown’s
caseload; the Federal Stimulus; Florida Crown’s budget
and of course, the issue that is casting a pall over the
entire region, Columbia County’s wrongheaded decision to
sever ties with Florida Crown.
Executive Director John Chastain (left) and Board Chairman
Larry Thompson (right) listen and answer questions of the board
Mr. Chastain, discussing the horrible state of the
region’s economy, told the Board, “We are being
bombarded. People are just looking for any job they can
get.
Mr. Chastain gave the Board some good news,
explaining that a bright spot for the region is $770,615
in Federal Stimulus money which has been allocated to
Florida Crown.
When Mr. Larry Thompson, Chairman of the Board of
Florida Crown, addressed the issue regarding the
relations with the Columbia County Commissioners, there
was a palpable pall in the room. Ever since the illegal
motion sprung on the public by Jack Berry protégé,
Commissioner Jody DuPree, Columbia County has allowed
this issue to fester and has made no effort to
understand the workings and issues confronting Florida
Crown.
The following documents
relating to this story are available from the
Observer.
Just drop us a e-mail.
The Annual Audit
The Director’s Presentation
The WIA Plan
A level headed Chairman Thompson, visibly distressed
by this distracting and continuing controversy, told the
Board, “It is misinformation. Workforce is very
complicated. Some of the perception is from when we had
five million dollars. The perception is that we are not
spending the money properly. When they [the County
Commission] become more educated, I think this problem
will go away. We’ve always had good support in Columbia
County. I’ll do my part to make it go away.”
