Florida Crown Gets Clean Bill of Health
$770,615 in stimulus money on the way
Columbia County, FL (posted March 23, 2009)
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.
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.”