Rethink GFPB

Editor, The Commercial:

Go Forward Pine Bluff was set up from the get-go to merge the generosity of private funds to augment public funds for the common good of our city and that ain’t easy.

Augmentation can be a fully privately funded project, or a project that includes public and private funds. The first action in the process is Go Forward seeking sources of private funding and getting those funds in hand. Go Forward has managed to bring more than $13 million into our community that was not here before. They wanted more, but don’t we all?

Once private funds are in place, the public-private relationship works like this:

In the case of a fully privately funded project, The Go Forward Board seeks to create and support worthwhile projects as outlined in the Go Forward Pine Bluff plan. Go Forward Pine Bluff submits projects to the Public Private Review committee for approval before it can happen. This committee is composed of three members appointed by the mayor and three members appointed by the Go Forward Board. If approved, the privately funded project is presented to the Go Forward Pine Bluff Board for final approval.

Fully privately funded activities and projects include:

■ Candidate Development Institute

■ Employability Training

■ Educational Alliance

■ Teach Pine Bluff

■ Pine Bluff Education Study

■ A.L.I.C.E. Homeownership Initiative

■ The Generator Construction and small business grants.

Significant private funding defrayed the cost of:

■ Forward Fest

■ homecoming concerts

■ King Cotton

■ Renovation of the Pine Bluff Community Center.

In the case of public-private partnership projects, the projects must first fall within the parameters set forth in the original Go Forward Pine Bluff plan, then must be approved by the Public Private Review committee. Once that approval is in place, the project is submitted to the appropriate city council committee for evaluation and forwarded to the city council for a vote. In the event they approve, the project happens.

This process is fully open to public scrutiny as are the complete Go Forward income/expenditure items posted for the world to see on the Go Forward website. Even at that, some people are screaming “transparency” to the top of their lungs.

To y’all screaming the loudest, consider this: you and your family are happily living in your house, but it needs a roof. The problem is you can’t afford a roof and continue to feed your family. Happily, there’s a solution on the horizon.

You have a friend who can and will be overjoyed to completely pay for your new roof, lock, stock and yo-yo. In return for that favor your friend asks you if you understand the word “private,” which describes the source and transaction. Do you tell him no, I want everyone and his cousins to know about it? Or do you say “thank you so much” and agree to his terms?

The bottom line: we live in an imperfect world. Me, you and Go Forward included. That said, in most of our lives, businesses, organizations and families, striving for alleged perfection reaches a point of diminishing returns, and we accept the best we can do at the time, and under the circumstances move forward. So, if there are those who want to give us money without fanfare, for crying out loud, take it and respect their wishes.

The question here is, are we better off than we were seven years ago? For your answer, ask any of the 28 families who are now living in their own homes, an impossibility before the ALICE program. Also ask the teachers who were able to achieve certification because of GFPB. Ask the teachers who were enabled to earn graduate degrees? Ask the folks who use the Pine Bluff Community Center? Ask the folks that got job training? Ask the folks who use the aquatic center for rehabilitation and health improvement? Ask the hundreds of young athletes and thousands of fans who will never forget the thrills of the King Cotton tournament. Then ask yourself, why in the hell am I against this?

JOE DEMPSEY, PINE BLUFF