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Lawmaker urges pulling youth charity's funding

A lobbyist for the Florida Youth Conservation Corps says the Port Richey lawmaker, who wants the state to pull the nonprofit's funding, has held a grudge against the group for years.

By BRIDGET HALL GRUMET and COLLINS CONNER
Published June 29, 2005

NEW PORT RICHEY - Sen. Mike Fasano has asked the state to yank its funding from the Florida Youth Conservation Corps until officials can determine whether the group is spending taxpayer dollars appropriately.

The state Department of Transportation has been giving millions of dollars each year to the Dade City-based nonprofit, which provides roadside maintenance jobs for disadvantaged youths.

The program promises life-skills training and educational bonuses, but a St. Petersburg Times investigation found it is not providing either.

A story published Sunday said the FYCC spent $457,215 in four years on travel, conventions and meetings and about $7,000 to $8,000 supporting a youth baseball league in the Dominican Republic.

The nonprofit's board includes nine relatives of executive director Bartolome Colom, crippling its ability to provide independent oversight.

Fasano, who chairs the Senate transportation appropriations committee, sent a letter Tuesday asking incoming DOT Secretary Denver Stutler to "consider not contracting with FYCC, or suspending any existing contracts, until we can determine the level of fiscal responsibility/irresponsibility of FYCC."

"If somebody tells you they're a nonprofit and their money is going to give scholarships to young, underprivileged people, and they're not doing that, they're being irresponsible and we need to no longer do business with them," Fasano, R-New Port Richey, told the Times.

Jay Lasita, a St. Petersburg City Council member who is a paid lobbyist for FYCC, said he was not surprised by Fasano's letter.

Lasita, saying he was speaking only for himself, claimed Fasano has had it in for the group for years.

"It's unfortunate Sen. Fasano wants to take the organization to task," Lasita said. "Quite honestly, he's doing so as part of his agenda to do harm to an organization that, if nothing else, employs kids."

Once an FYCC supporter, Fasano soured on the group in 2001 after Colom filed state documents listing Fasano as a board member - a post the legislator declined.

Fasano tried to cut FYCC's funding this past session. The group has been getting about $3.5-million to $4.5-million a year in government contracts, mostly from DOT. But Fasano wanted to limit the contracts to $600,000 per nonprofit. The House opposed the cap.

Lasita called Fasano's proposed cap a backhanded tactic:

"The attempt to slide a line into an appropriations budget that is hundreds of pages long to fulfill a personal animus is just totally wrong," he said. "It borders on an abuse of power."

Lasita also suggested Fasano "had some involvement" in steering the Sunday Times article, a notion the legislator found laughable.

"I let that go," Fasano said of his grudge against FYCC. "It wasn't until the St. Pete Times started asking questions that they (FYCC) couldn't answer that I had more concerns with them."

Fasano plans to call FYCC leaders before the Senate transportation appropriations committee in September to answer questions about the group's spending and lack of educational incentives.

The group promises a $500 bonus for workers who pass the GED test, reimbursement for up to nine credit hours of schooling, and a $4,725 scholarship after a year's work. But 30 ex-employees interviewed by the Times couldn't remember anyone who got the perks.

"We were told they were out there to assist young people who needed help with so many of their issues," Fasano said. "Now we're finding out that's not the case."

[Last modified June 29, 2005, 01:18:19]