By Richard Sullins | richard@rantnc.com
Lee County commissioners dipped into their federal coronavirus relief funds to award a three-year grant of $500,000 to the Life Springs Action Team, a ministry of the Life Springs Church that was incorporated just four months ago.
The award will allow the church to continue and expand its “Dream Center” program that seeks to prevent human trafficking, provide education and therapeutic activities, and community building. The nonprofit organization will receive $200,000 during the first year of the project and $150,000 in each of the two succeeding years.
The commissioners identified mental health concerns as a critical community need and the Life Springs proposal aims to make use of its relationships with other nonprofits to address those needs.
Lee County Manager Dr. John Crumpton brought the proposal to the commissioners at their Monday meeting as an information item. His summary to the board said “the request from Life Springs Dream Center should be reviewed by the Board of Commissioners and considered at a future meeting for funding through the county’s (American Recovery Plan) funding.”
Crumpton urged the commissioners to take their time in considering the plan before making a multi-year commitment to fund it.
“This is an extensive proposal and will take time for the Board to review and understand. At this meeting, the suggested action is to accept the proposal, review it, and consider it for funding at one of the Board’s December meetings,” he wrote.
The outgoing vice chair of the commissioners, Republican Arianna Lavallee, pushed to brush aside Crumpton’s recommendation and proceed with making the award on Monday night without further study. That brought a quick response from Democratic Commissioner Robert Reives, who asked that any vote to allocate the funds be delayed until December.
“This is a three-year commitment we are talking about and there has been no discussion so far about how this is all going to work,” he said.
Republican Commissioner Bill Carver supported moving ahead with making the grant immediately.
“This is such a clear contribution to what the county needs to be able to do to meet the crisis that they are finding in the populations that they are addressing,” he said.
Democratic commissioners Mark Lovick and Cameron Sharpe also spoke in support of the concept but recommended the board take more time before making what is likely one of the largest contributions to a nonprofit organization by the county in its history.
Reives sought to make his position, and that of his Democratic colleagues, clear.
“Don’t take my request for tabling it to be non-supportive. I’d just like to know if we have done other folks the same way we are talking about doing here tonight,” he said.
Reives questioned making a three year commitment that would effectively tie the board’s hands to keep the project going beyond the life of the current board, something he believed had never been done in his 32 years of service as a Lee County commissioner.
Lavallee countered that the board had set aside $1.5 million of its ARPA allocation to address mental health issues and she couldn’t see what further study of the proposal might gain.
The board’s four Republicans voted as a block to vote on the award without further study or questions. The three Democrats voted to wait until December. A final vote was then taken on making grant, with a final tally of 6-1 with Reives against.
How the funds will be used
Pastor Dale Sauls said the Dream Center is modeled on others that are operating in Los Angeles and Phoenix. The L.A. program began in 1994 and “has impacted over 50,000 lives and adopted over 135 blocks in under-resourced communities.”
Sauls said the Life Springs Dream Center has “rescued” 17 women from human trafficking and that 10 of them were from within the county, all done through its hotel, jail, and community outreach programs. By using site coordinators and volunteers, Life Springs’ proposal says it builds relationships that “meet the practical, spiritual, social, and mental needs of families.”
The program will offer soft skills and job readiness programs through a partnership with Central Carolina Community College and will allow it to grow the number of free meals it offers weekly outside Mrs. Wenger’s Restaurant beyond its current limit of 150. It projects the number of persons it is able to serve will grow from 1,500 per year to 5,250.
Documentation provided to the county estimates the total cost of the program over three years to be $1,334,400, and the allocation approved by the commissioners this week will provide only about 37 percent of that cost. The document does not say where Life Springs hopes to find the remaining balance.
Of the total amount, $800,000 (almost 60 percent) would go toward the purchase of a building to house the Dream Center. Another $200,000 would pay for personnel, including its director, 2 case managers, peer support specialist, and other unspecified administrative positions.
A “vehicle and van” are earmarked for $75,000 in the Center’s budget proposal and another $25,000 is allocated each for addiction rehab and emergency shelter needs.
A contract between Life Springs and the county is being drafted and is to be presented at the commissioners next meeting on December 5.
Work on sports complex could begin in summer
The board also received an update on the planned Multi-Sports Complex on Monday, hearing that if all goes according to plan, construction could start on the site as early as next summer.
Jason Galloway, project manager for the McAdams civil engineering firm that is designing the complex, brought a revised site concept to the commissioners after they were told during the summer that the project as it was originally envisioned could cost up to $74 million. The changes presented on Monday night will reduce the overall costs to roughly half that amount, somewhere between $35 and $40 million.
The current scope of the project includes one 400-foot baseball field and three 225-foot baseball fields; two full-size multi-use synthetic turf fields which can each be broken down into two smaller youth fields, four natural turf multi-use fields which also can be converted into two smaller youth fields each, two picnic shelters, an event lawn, an office and maintenance building, and a playground area.
If there are enough surplus funds available after the base items are completed, two more natural turf fields (or four more 12-and-under fields) could be added as project alternatives. Depending on how the spaces might be configured, another picnic shelter, restrooms, and a walking trail could be added during the initial phase of the project.
The Technical Review Committee, a joint city-county collaborative that reviews major projects that impact Lee County, Sanford, and Broadway, will pass on its comments to the designers later this month and the design development and cost estimates will be made in early December.
The process of preparing construction documents and securing the required permits should happen between December and March. The timeline projects that the project will go out for bids in late March and be opened in the middle of April. If that schedule holds, then site preparation work could start sometime in middle of summer.
Services honored
The commissioners adopted separate resolutions to honor the contributions of three Lee County residents who have given service to the community beyond what was asked of them.
Russell Spivey was honored after 41 years with the county, retiring this year as Lee County’s General Services director. Spivey began his career in 1981 and asked his wife and co-workers to stand alongside him as Republican Chairman Kirk Smith presented him with a resolution recognizing his service.
Lavallee was also recognized for term on the board. At the time of her election in 2018, she was the youngest county commissioner in the state. She chose not to seek re-election this year.
Smith also presented a resolution of appreciation for 32 years of service to Reives. Before reading the document, Smith said, “I wasn’t sure that I would be elected, so I wanted to make sure that you got this from me personally.”
Reives was first elected to represent District 1 in 1990 and has consecutively held the seat ever since, most recently having won re-election on November 8. He is a recipient of The Order of the Long Leaf Pine, and his lengthy record of public service includes stopping an attempt to locate a hazardous waste site in Lee County some years ago.
In accepting the resolution, Commissioner Reives asked that the document be redrafted to include the name of his late wife, Ruth Battle Reives, who passed away in 2021.
“I didn’t do this on my own. You don’t do this without support, and I’d like it to read that way,” he said.
Standing alongside Reives as he thanked his fellow commissioners and the county staff were his son, North Carolina House of Representatives Democratic Leader Robert T. Reives II and his grandson, T.J.
So basically this church organization receives a half million dollars of tax payer money without being vetted. My first question is did the 4 republican commissioners conferenced together and decide how they were to vote prior to the public meeting? Second. Do any of the commissioners attend Life Springs Church? If so it would seem the ethical thing to do would have been to recuse themselves from this vote since they have a vested interest. Third. Reverend Sauls mentions similar programs that are located in very large cities and doesn’t mentioned if tax payer funds are used for those programs? Forth. Just where will the building they intend to purchase be located? They say they plan to feed over 5000 people at Wengers. It appears to me they might be setting up shop in downtown Sanford. I wonder how the local business owners will feel about thousands of people being served with such limited parking in downtown?
All excellent questions which could have been asked if Republicans were actually the stewards of taxpayer money they claim to be. They were drooling so hard to give federal money to a church (their church, some of them, and the church which manages to churn out so many Republican candidates), they completely for got how their party opposed that money in the first place!
Nonprofits in Lee County jump through hoops to qualify for county funding, and often, even when everything checks out, they still don’t get anything. But, the GOP-aligned church with some GOP commissioners gets fast-tracked with the largest pot of money the board has ever given a nonprofit. I smell a few rats.
Are you telling me these fine Christian Commissioners lack ethics?
Lee GOP leaders don’t give a rip about ethics. They only give lip-service to faith in their true service to power.
Jay, If I read the article correctly, in the end 3 Democrats also voted for this. So this one seems to be a bipartisan mis-allocation of public funds. WTH???? I actually agree with Robert Reives!!!! Call 911!!! You know me, I am a fiscal hawk and firmly believe that every public dollar needs to be accounted for and ONLY used for the funding of government agencies or used to contract for services that benefit the public, roads, repairs, playgrounds, etc. I have never been a fan of using public funds for pet projects or investments into private companies. The decisions are made based on grandiose platitudes and there is never any form of process to scrutinize the spending of the money once it is given. Then we find out after the fact the money was wasted on nonsense that doesn’t benefit the public and there is nothing we can do to recover those funds. If we really want to lower the tax burden on the citizens then stop funding private entities that should be able to raise money in the free market. That is what free market capitalism is all about. Don’t tell me your a free market capitalist then hand a half million dollars to some organization that should be able to convince donors and investors of their cause. I wonder how much of a pay raise we could give teachers and how many improvements could be made to the schools if the county would stop giving money away to entities that should be able to raise money on their own? Could we hire more lunchroom staff and cook better meals for the students? Could we create a school lunch that is funded by the taxpayers and no student has to worry if their lunch account is empty? The Military does it, why can’t we? The lunch budget is based on the number of students being fed every day and the budget is approved based on that. If the County has excess funds after all financial obligations have been met, then they need to put that money away for a county emergency. It isn’t their money to spend on anything they want. It is the taxpayers money and that money should be used for taxpayer services.
Dale, I’m disappointed that 2 Dems voted for this, but they were over a barrel. It was definitely going to pass with or without them, and they probably didn’t want the wrath of the most political church in town whipped up against them. I get it, but yeah, I wish they’d gone down fighting.
I do believe Commissioner Carver is a member of the church, in a leadership position.
Praise God for President Biden, the Democrats, and the American Rescue Plan who made this possible.
O.K. Republican here. As I support many of the things this party does ( and I support things the Democrats do as well, so shut up and save your comments for someone who actually cares about what you say or think) Using funding from the “Pandemic” for something that it was not allocated for is just wrong. The money was issued for one thing and was not used, therefore it should not be used for ANYTHING else. It’s “side businesses” like this that cause people to dislike one party and muckrake all others who are involved with it’s affiliation. I don’t care if the money was going to be used to provide free food and housing for a year for people. That is not what the money was allocated for, so it should not be used for anything that it’s intended purposes.
Exactly!!! As far as I know, no significant amount of the money has been used for anything having to do with COVID. PATHETIC! When we have either another wave of COVID or some other highly contagious virus, Lee County has done nothing to be prepared for it. No money has been spent to upgrade school facilities to reduce the spread of viruses, nothing has been done to upgrade public spaces, I don’t know if they even used the money to prepare to respond to anything. The money has been used line the pockets of the education system and pet projects or causes. For once I agree with Robert Reives. BTW the FLU is making its way around the country and we have done nothing to mitigate any risks.
I wonder if Life Springs is aware of the Johnson Amendment? “The Johnson Amendment is a provision in the U.S. tax code, since 1954, that prohibits all 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations from endorsing or opposing political candidates. Section 501(c)(3) organizations are the most common type of nonprofit organization in the United States, ranging from charitable foundations to universities and churches. The amendment is named for then-Senator Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas, who introduced it in a preliminary draft of the law in July 1954.”
I saw so many positive reviews about Mr gerry anderson and I must confess that surely he is a skilled professional trader and the best among all as he clients all said, he managed my account after I Invested $600 and got a successful withdrawal of $12,000 within few days of my investment, up-till now am still so shocked and surprised “It always seems impossible until it’s done”., with your hard-earned money is 100% secured/Safe trust me you have nothing to lose or to be scared of at all, You can contact him via
WhatsApp:+11(559)424-0353 (OR)
Email: gerry.anderson429@gmail.com
You heathens need to stop talking about people and take y’all’s sinning behinds to church (preferably Life Springs) and ask for forgiveness!
Comments like this are exactly why religion and government don’t mix. Giving $500k to any nonprofit without at least going through the process to evaluate if it’s a good use of taxpayer money is bad policy. But, here you come in and say, “you heathens just need to shut up” because…god.
D. Roberts. What did you expect the two DEMS do since they did not have the vote? They wanted to table it and check things out but they knew with the evangelicals getting involved in local politics it would be political suicide to vote against this organization. We just saw two crazies get elected to the School Board over very well qualified DEMS. We saw a woman not from here that no one really knows and has few qualifications beat a well qualified, well known, life long Lee County resident in Doc Oldham for Commissioner. This woman even said in the Rant interview that she was for increasing the budget while at the same time lowering taxes. I am afraid Lee County is becoming a theocracy.
Yeah, the last time Republican commissioners cut taxes and increased spending, they blew a hole in the budget that took Democrats years to sort out (you might remember that the GOP-led board refused to build new schools, to make the math work, and the following year the county manager called the whole scheme “unsustainable.”
History is about to repeat itself. They’ll spend the fund balance down to statutory levels (I was going to say “on audits,” but they only care about audits when Dems are in charge), and cut property taxes by a cent or two. They’ll hope for the best, and cut corners everywhere they can. Let’s see how all that goes.
So how exactly did the Dems sort out? New schools were not needed then and are not needed now. Structurally the schools are fine and safe, the problem is the education itself and not having qualified staff. Teachers, while their profession may be honorable, are always saying they need a COLA. They complain they have to buy their own supplies at their own cost…..says who? Make due with what you have. And I don’t want to keep falling back on this, but you knew the salary level(s) when you decided to choose that career path. With as much technology that is around now (all students have cell phones) what supplies are in such great demand, that you cannot conduct daily lessons with? I’m all for education of the next generation, but what exactly is needed in the classrooms? If any teachers are here, (teachers, not parents of students because the vision is completely different between the two) Please expand on this so we all can understand what is actually lacking in form of materials for you to actually teach.
I hope that they would do well with it, and will be managed
RepublicanbyChoice, I have never been a teacher but my dad, aunt, and 2 sisters were teachers. I get what you are saying about teachers knowing their pay when they enter the profession now but it wasn’t until 2008 when the great recession hit that the NC Legislature froze the pay of the ones hired prior to 2008. We still have tons of teachers in the profession that took their job when they could depend on pay increases to keep up with inflation. Towards the very end of my dad’s 33 year teaching career which was in the early 1980’s he made right at $30,000 with a master degree. The equivalent of $30,000 in today’s dollars would be over $90,000. I spoke with a current teacher with a similar resume’ as I just described for my dad that said she made in the $50,000 dollar range. Plain and simple you other RepublicansbyChoice have it out for public schools due to its cost. Hard to give tax cuts when you have to provide for public education.
Look up Dream Center and see what it is about. They do a lot for people who where human trafficked, unless you’re ok with that. Look up the Dream Center in L.A., they do so much for their community to the point the gangs don’t mess with the blue shirts.
Hope they are successful but there is a proper way to allocate tax money and the republican Lee County Commissioners did not allow time for the other Commissioners to check out this organization. Does the Dream Center in LA receive tax money to operate? Are you a member of Life Springs Church? If so can you tell me if any of the Lee County Commissioners attend Life Springs? If so do you not think the ethical thing for those Commissioners to do would be to recuse themselves from voting on the allocation of these funds? If the program ends up being a failure will Life Springs reimburse the taxpayers that provided these funds? If the Dream Center Sanford ends up being a success future funding should not be an issue. Prove the program works in Sanford first and then apply for tax money. Seems reasonable to me.