May 16 2015 INHERITING A MESS IRREVELANCY amp DISENGAGEMENT Apalachee Regional Planning Council ARPC established in 1977 Population Board of Directors Statutory Responsibilities Dues Structure ID: 485420
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Southeast Regional Director’s InstituteMay 16, 2015
INHERITING A MESS, IRREVELANCY & DISENGAGEMENT
Apalachee Regional Planning CouncilSlide2
ARPC established in 1977
PopulationBoard of DirectorsStatutory Responsibilities
Dues Structure
Director and 9 Staff
Historical backgroundSlide3
Background Cont’d…
My Background
Began as an intern on Jan. 1999
Hired on fulltime in October 2000 primarily as an Economic Development PlannerPromoted to Senior Planner in 2002 after staff turnover
Transitioned into Emergency Planner position in October 2002Slide4
May 2011 – Governor vetoes Florida’s historical legislative allocation of RPC funding
Amounts to approximately $165,00 in funding for the ARPCAdministrative assistant and GIS Specialist laid off in October
May 2012 – Governor vetoes RPC funding again
Majority of staff reduced to 32 hours per week beginning January of 2013
stormy watersSlide5
May 2013 – Governor vetoes RPC funding for third time
Director announces an October 30, 2013 retirement dateWarning Signs of a Sinking Ship
Record low employee morale
Payroll rumorsOverspent projects months before expected completionRent Deposit optional
Finance Officer very stressedLeadership MIANo guidance or training provided by ED
Stormy waters cont’dSlide6
October 31, 2013 - First day as Executive Director
Open the Books$805 in Operating AccountPayroll was due in 2 weeks…
$40,000 in past due Accounts Payable
$60,000 budget deficit for FY 2013-14Not including $15,000 Annual Leave payout requested by EDNot reflective of the recently passed budget
Happy HalloweenSlide7
November 14, 2013 – Held an
emergency Executive CommitteeMeetingShock and disbelief by EC
Proposed Actions:
Terminate Finance OfficerCombine RLF Officer & Finance Officer positionsSwitch from GMS to QuickBooks
Deny AL payout to previous EDCombine Emergency Planner and ED positions
Emergency meetingSlide8
Board members united and offered support as much as possible
Staff rallied to bring in additional work and do even more with less even while on reduced hoursFlorida RPCs helped in every way possibleARPC Outreach Commission/Council Meeting Tour
RDSTF Exercise
Dues IncreaseConstant Communication with bill collectorsAnnual Goals
Survival modeSlide9
May 2014 – Governor vetoes RPC funding for a fourth time
October 2014 – All employees back to 40 hours per week
November 2014 - FY 2012-2013 Audit reveals major problems with EDA RLF
$334,000 missing from RLF Funds
EDA Planning Grant and RLF suspended
January 2015 - $40,000 past due Accounts Payable balance paid off
One step forward, two steps backSlide10
January 2015Legislation introduced to eliminate Regional Planning Councils
EDA requests program specific audit on RLFFederal guidelines require all funds to be repaid in 3 years
April 2015
Passed legislation eliminates one RPC in FloridaProgram specific audit confirms $100,000 in misused RLF funds
We’re still here…Slide11
Too much trust in a longtime ED by the Board of Directors
Financial reports that were difficult to comprehendFinance Officer that was promoted beyond abilitySame auditor used for 22 years
‘Installed’
OfficersED had essentially ‘retired in place’ for the past 10+ yearsLack of communication from the ED to the Board resulted in disengagement and irrelevancy
How could this happen?Slide12
questions?