Equal Time: Charity  Responds after Council Member’s Criticism

Village Manager Andrea Agha speaks to Council Member Ignacio Segurola on the dais during a discussion of the Key Biscayne Community Foundation, June 18, 2019. She later said she was responding to questions he was asking about the charity. (Key News/Tony Winton)

The Key Biscayne Village Council is holding a previously unscheduled meeting Tuesday to discuss the future of the Key Biscayne Community Foundation, a charitable organization that runs numerous programs including a shuttle program and the 4th of July Parade.

Mayor Mike Davey said Sunday in an interview that he didn’t want to wait until the regular August meeting to hear from the Foundation’s officials after Council Member Ignacio Segurola raised questions about it during a heated meeting last week.

“I think it does tremendous things for this community. Without it, we would have a difficult time delivering services and what they are able to do,” Davey said. “It’s an incredibly good friend for this village.”

Segurola, who said he could not get enough documentation to review current spending, said the contract between the Foundation and the Village for services in return for office space creates the appearance of impropriety.

“There has to be a complete accounting of every dollar that goes in and out,” Segurola said at the previous meeting. “I haven’t seen that. It just doesn’t look right.”

Segurola declined comment when reached by phone Sunday. The issue has to do with the Council’s consideration of a request from several community groups for at least $253,000 in the 2020 budget that would be administered by the Foundation.

Among other things, the Foundation provides services for the elderly, the Key Biscayne Historical and Heritage Society, the Freebee shuttle program, the 4th of July Parade, an anti-bullying program, a piano festival and several science programs.

Former Council Member Gary Gross, chairman of the Foundation’s board of directors, said in a letter to the Council that Segurola made “derogatory and false” statements about the organization at the last meeting.

“Let us be clear: there is nothing wrong with asking questions and seeking clarity to safeguard public funds,” Gross wrote. “However, that is not what Council Member Segurola did. Our elected leaders have an obligation to educate themselves on issues before making baseless accusations of impropriety from the dais.”

Council Member Ed London said the Foundation’s work means the Village doesn’t have to duplicate that work.

“We benefit by using them rather than doing it ourselves,” London said.

Davey said Tuesday’s meeting will provide the Council with a chance to learn more about exactly what the Foundation is doing and how the money is spent.

“They are concerned by what had been said. They want the opportunity to clear up what was said,” Davey said. “The Foundation is doing things for us. We are happy to have them.”

Millions of dollars of Village services are already administered by private contractors, ranging from garbage hauling to tree trimming to traffic crossing guards. Recently, the Village Manager privatized code compliance.

Nationally, municipalities outsource about 20 percent of service delivery to for-profit companies; about 10 percent goes to nonprofits like the Key Biscayne Community Foundation, according to a recently published study by the International City/County Management Association.