Leader points to WorkNet progress

A state official says the county job-training and welfare agency, which has come under fire in recent weeks, is an improvement on the past.

By LISA GREENE, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published December 5, 2002

WorkNet Pinellas has management problems but has made great strides in improving the services it provides to the county's poor and unemployed, the president of the state's work force policy unit told WorkNet board members Wednesday.

That praise from Curtis Austin, president of Workforce Florida, comes after weeks of public criticism of the welfare and job-training agency's handling of contracts.

"What you did wrong (was) you didn't do government well," Austin said. "That's going to happen when you put business leaders in charge of something."

Austin was straightforward about the board's problems, but his tone was optimistic. He emphasized that the agency is better than its predecessors at delivering services.

A few years ago, Austin told the board, he came to a St. Petersburg One-Stop Center, where people go to find out about jobs, training and welfare benefits. He found a woman there in tears because she couldn't get anyone from the agency to help her.

Austin helped straighten out the confusion, but he was appalled. He jokingly told people on his staff that "we can never let the governor see this place" or they would all be fired.

Today, those centers, which have since been taken over by St. Petersburg College under a contract awarded by WorkNet, are "dramatically different," Austin said. The centers have been renovated, reorganized, and people can better help.

WorkNet's performance has gone from among the worst in the state to "the middle of the pack" compared with other local work force boards, Austin said.

"I've got a lot of concerns about process down here," he said. "I don't have concerns about where you're heading as far as performance."

Austin's comments were the highlight of a board meeting that was specially called so board members could learn more about a string of financial and procurement issues the agency has struggled with over the past few months. Those problems include the improper handling of a contract given to a St. Petersburg church, widespread flaws with the agency's accounting and a county report showing apparent salary disparities between black and white employees.

Some board members said they were discouraged by the negative publicity the agency has received. Carl Kuttler, president of St. Petersburg College, was angry.

Kuttler told board members that college officials did nothing improper in winning WorkNet's contract for the One-Stop Centers. The county received bids last fall from applicants, including the college, and then threw the others out, giving the contract to the college.

Austin said last week that doing so violated state work force laws. County officials have said they followed procurement laws that allow them to give the contract to another public entity without competitive bids.

Kuttler said the college was trying to help its community. "We weren't here for our own doing," he said.

County Commissioner Ken Welch said it's important to separate the college's handling of the One-Stop services from the county's handling of the contract award.

"If we made a mistake in interpreting state law, that's something we need to address and move forward," Welch said. Kuttler also told board members that some board members are "interfering" in the One-Stops. He later refused to identify whom he meant, saying only that a board member had visited the One-Stops telling staff people there would be no job cuts. But he told board members he wants such actions to stop.

"If it continues, I'm going to report it to the ethics commission," he said.

The board's chairman, Leroy Sullivan, detailed for board members what's being done to put WorkNet's house in order. That includes the appointment of a special board committee, formation of a "management support team" of county and state staffers, and the hiring of a new chief financial officer.

WorkNet also needs to get its charter renewed by the state work force board and wasn't ready to do so by the state board's first meeting on the topic today. But Austin said the group can still resolve the issues by the next state meeting in February.

WorkNet is moving in the right direction, Sullivan said at a meeting where everyone "laid our feelings on the table."

"I truly believe we're going to be stronger because of this and not weaker," Sullivan said. "All of us working together, I think we can put all these issues behind us and move on. ... Our real mission is to help those people out there who are hurting."

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