| a letter from Commissioner Sheehan |
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Central Florida Leadership Academy Good morning,There has been a lot of misinformation regarding the Florida Safety Council lease and a lease with a new public charter school, the Central Florida Leadership Academy. I prefer to deal with City Council business regarding my district in public and in the sunshine, but one of my colleagues has taken his version of this issue directly to the media. The result has misled the public and caused me a lot of personal distress. I am not going to retaliate. Instead, I prefer to respond to you with the facts. Here is some background for you. The property was conveyed to the City with restrictions that the land must be used for public benefit. The land cannot be sold for commercial use to offset the City’s financial situation. The Safety Council was a tenant in the Primrose Building on this land. The Safety Council rent was $66,882.00 per year. The lease originated in 1975 and gave the City the option to continue or terminate during the term. In the past, the Safety Council was concerned about the recreational uses that surrounded them. They have now relocated to a facility that better serves their needs. When the lease ended, the Safety Council was reimbursed for recent improvements on the property that the City will retain, and other contractual obligations and relocation assistance. That totaled $200,000.00. Recently, the City opted to lease the property to an organization which will be more compatible to the residential nature of the area. We felt a character based charter school would meet the needs of this area on a number of levels. The Primrose building is located in an area that has a 60% school drop-out rate. The Central Florida Leadership Academy will bring a much needed stay-in-school, tuition-free, college preparatory academic program to this area. There is a Skate Park, and a community center with a gymnasium, as well as volleyball and basketball courts in the vicinity of the property, which offer ideal facilities to support the school program. As a charter school, the Central Florida Leadership Academy cannot receive State facility money until after 3 years in existence. Therefore, the City’s lease with CFLA is “back-end” loaded, meaning CFLA’s rental obligation will increase over time. In the first three years, CFLA will provide in-kind afterschool activities valued at $250,000.00 per year. The CFLA will reimburse all contractual costs associated with the Safety Council relocation, valued at $97,219.20. The CFLA will give the City half of the facility money it receives from the State, estimated at more than $113,000 per year beginning in year four and increasing thereafter. There has been some concern about involvement of one of our City employees in this process. Jody Litchford is a volunteer with the Central Florida Leadership Academy. She was fully transparent about this during the entire process. She is passionate about the school because her son benefitted from a similar program. I wish more people would have a similar interest in helping at-risk youth. The City has a long standing commitment to quality education, and supports charter schools, pre-K and other educational opportunities for its residents. In addition to the community benefits, however, the transaction will provide more rent than the previous use. Please be assured that I will continue to support sensible, fiscally prudent efforts to improve our community and the services our great city offers the residents of District 4. Best Regards, Patty Sheehan ---- Patty Sheehan Commissioner, District 4 City of Orlando 400 S Orange Avenue, 2nd Floor Orlando, FL 32801 (407) 246-2004 - Phone (407) 246-3010 - Fax |
