Mar 8, 2024 By Mike Jones 5 min read

The Washington County commissioners are asking the Local Share Account committee to meet again to reconsider providing a $500,000 grant to the City Mission, while also opening the door to potentially fund other projects that weren’t originally selected.

The commissioners during their Thursday afternoon meeting unanimously approved a compromise measure to have the LSA committee “reconvene and research” the City Mission’s request and other projects over the next few weeks.

The process began when Commissioner Larry Maggi began the meeting asking the board to amend its agenda in order to provide the $500,000 grant from the LSA fund for the City Mission’s plans to build a new 50-bed women’s shelter after it was inexplicably removed by the committee at the last minute.

“This is about following a process that has been in place since 2008 (and) doing the right thing,” Maggi said. “Between Jan. 30 and Feb. 6, 2024, that decision was changed, indicating that the City Mission project was removed. … I’ve been an advocate and a defender of this LSA process for 16 years. I’ve participated in the process and we try to take the politics out of it.”

But Commissioner Chairman Nick Sherman raised questions about the legality of the board amending the agenda in the middle of the meeting since the state’s Sunshine Law requires all action items to be advertised to the public at least 24 hours before a meeting. County solicitor Gary Sweat responded that they probably could not amend the agenda for that particular request since it involves “spending of money.”

Sherman suggested they instead approve a motion asking the LSA committee to “reconvene to research this project as well as other eligible projects” for consideration of the remaining $500,000 available from the total $9.2 million pot of casino gambling revenue. Sweat said that would likely hold up to scrutiny, but suggested the LSA committee meet again as soon as possible to make another recommendation since the commissioners ultimately have to approve it and then send the list to the state Department of Community and Economic Development for final approval by the end of the month.

“You can do that because you’re not spending money, but you’re keeping (the issue) alive,” Sweat said.

Maggi questioned that suggestion since other projects apparently would also be considered, and he preferred his plan to “recommit the money” that was already allocated to City Mission.

“I would say let’s just go back to what the original recommendations were,” Maggi said.

While Maggi saw a preliminary list from the LSA committee that showed funding for City Mission’s application, Commissioner Electra Janis said she never received that and only had possession of the finalized list that the commissioners approved at their Feb. 15 meeting.

“I received a list on Feb. 6 with a list of organizations and the Washington City Mission was not on said list,” Janis said. “I spoke with no one about that. That was the list I received.”

A total of 50 out of 94 projects were selected for LSA funds, meaning the door has reopened for the other 44 projects that weren’t picked, which concerned Maggi. The commissioners seemed to massage the motion before taking the vote in order to ask the LSA committee to focus on City Mission’s request while giving it the flexibility to do what it sees fit in making another recommendation.

“I would like to keep it just to the City Mission,” Maggi said. “If we go back and open it up, we’re going to have to start the process over again and the time does not allow for that.”

“I fundamentally disagree with showing partisan like this,” Sherman said. “I wish them well, I want them to get funding. They help people, but we cannot say they’re the only one eligible for this. We’re opening ourselves up to litigation.”

The commissioners reworked the motion to have the LSA committee mainly focus on City Mission’s request and unanimously approved it, which was met with applause from the audience.

Now the ball is in the LSA committee’s court with little time to act.

State Sen. Camera Bartolotta, who is a member of the LSA committee, said she met with City Mission officials recently and spoke to Sherman about the issue. Bartolotta, R-Carroll, noted that City Mission’s application was apparently removed at the last minute due to concerns about its ability to provide matching funds, although that issue seemingly has resolved itself following a groundswell of financial support from the community in recent weeks.

“They’ve been doing it right for the past 84 years, so I’m all about it. I think they can come up with the (match),” Bartolotta said about LSA funding City Mission’s request. “They raise money like nobody’s business. People like what they do.”

She is hopeful that the renewed interest in the request will ultimately end with the $500,000 grant being awarded to the City Mission.

“I can’t speak for the whole (LSA) board, but I do have every confidence that if it comes to the board again, I see it being a unanimous ‘yes,'” Bartolotta said. “Everyone came to the rescue after they heard the news, and it shows the love the community has for the City Mission.”