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Front Porch council ousted
By BRYAN GILMER © St. Petersburg Times, published November 18, 2000 ST. PETERSBURG -- Front Porch Florida is supposed to be a community-driven effort to revitalize poor neighborhoods, but it was the Tallahassee-based administrator of Gov. Jeb Bush's program who made the big decision Thursday night. Alison Hewitt disbanded the Community Revitalization Council, which had run the St. Petersburg efforts for a year. She said she will let the community pick a new one Dec. 12, and she called her action "the will of the community," which she said did not support the current council members. Council member David Welch had made a motion to disband the council, but before the board could vote on it or even discuss it at the Thursday meeting, Hewitt declared "motion carries," and declared the meeting adjourned, stunning many in attendance. Friday, the beleaguered program perhaps reached a new low. Rodney Bennett, the unseated Revitalization Council chairman, arrived at the 16th Street S Front Porch office to find that his key no longer fit the lock. The only local paid staffer, Community Liaison Faye Jackson, who let him in, called the police when he tried to remove his belongings. She claimed he was taking things that weren't his, he said. "If you're going to disband the whole council, why don't you disband the liaison, too?" Bennett said, dejectedly leaning against the hood of a car outside the locked office after St. Petersburg police mediated the 2 p.m. dispute. Jackson and Bennett have been at odds many times in recent months. Jackson said she couldn't get a key to the Front Porch office from Bennett until this past week, although the council ordered Bennett to provide one a few weeks ago. Bush created Front Porch to let residents of several poor urban areas in Florida express their needs to the state, which was to help meet them. But the effort has worked poorly in St. Petersburg. The local board formed one year ago, but it has spent nearly all its time dividing into factions and struggling with issues such as passing bylaws or drafting a budget. It had trouble figuring out what Jackson's role and what its role were. State officials often provided conflicting answers. In June, the Department of Juvenile Justice gave grants to 67 local community groups. Because it was racing a state budget deadline, it did no background checks on grant applicants. In one case, a man with a 12-year history of drug and weapons convictions got a $30,000 grant for his start-up recording company. The money was supposed to help established programs that steer kids away from drugs and violence. Hewitt's predecessor, Patrick Hadley, resigned last month. "It has not been a bottom-up approach," said Yate Cutliff, who stood near Bennett onFriday. She was the city resident who first applied for St. Petersburg to be designated a Front Porch community. "It's been very disappointing. It has been a dictatorship." Hewitt said Bush remains committed to St. Petersburg and to the community-directed nature of the program. She said residents of St. Petersburg will choose the new members of the board. "He just wants to provide them a little bit of structure," she said. "Some of these people have not had the opportunity to sit on boards and don't know how things are done. The governor truly believes that this community can do it, but not without the boundaries of foundation." Asked if she would ever disband the new council if its members displease her, Hewitt responded, "when it is the will of the community that they would like to be refocused, yes." Jackson, who remains the liaison for now, according to Hewitt, said Friday she was still amazed at Thursday night's events. But she said many people in the community felt they had no voice on the council. "The community wanted the council disbanded and (Hewitt) listened to the community," Jackson said. "This council was not representative of the community. Not all of them, but the majority of the council members that are there don't have the community interests at hand." - Times staff writer Leonora LaPeter contributed to this story.
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