Honorable Mayor and Commissioners,

Given recent events, it is important to share relevant information regarding City interactions with Cure Violence Global (CVG). Below you will find a timeline submitted by Brittany Coleman that details all staff interactions around grant planning prior to and following the announcement of the DOJ award for CVG to operate in Gainesville. I also am providing a Friday, Dec. 13 news report focused on questions surrounding CVG operations in Jacksonville.

https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2024/12/13/new-report-finds-former-jacksonville-crime-prevention-program-cure-violence-lacked-oversight-had-several-deficiencies/

City staff have been committed to transparency, mutual partnership, and consistent communication with county and Santa Fe partners to ensure that all parties are working in collaboration toward shared goals. In addition to the Alliance, city staff have been meeting monthly with county staff since July to share updates and information. This regularly scheduled meeting was requested by county staff and agreed to by the city’s gun violence intervention program manager in the spirit of transparency. In these meetings, the GVIPM has discussed city initiatives, grant proposals, events, and general updates related to gun violence prevention and intervention efforts. Additionally, county staff have provided updates and sought input on the small grant initiative and potential partnership/events with county victim services. Below is a synopsis of involvement with Pastor Duncan and County Staff. 

April 19th - Cease Violence in the Hood Proposal submitted to City, County, CTAC and SBAC via email by Pastor Gerard Duncan.

May 1^st – I (Brittany Coleman) informed Pastor Duncan that the City was partnering with the Willie Mae Stokes Center to provide violence interruption work and that he should bring his proposal for Cease Violence in the Hood to the Alliance.

May 1st - Pastor Duncan and Jarell Whitehead presented Cease Violence in the Hood and Strongminded Mentoring Program to Black on Black Crime Task Force.  At this meeting Pastor Duncan indicated that he would be stepping back and allowing Mr. Whitehead to take the lead in his initiatives.

May 2nd – City Staff presented the GFR quarterly update to the Commission and shared our two DOJ grant proposals, one of which was the DOJ’s Community-Based Violence Prevention Initiative Grant.

May 6th - City staff (Brittany Coleman, Fire Chief Joe Dixon, John Alexander) attended a joint County Commission and CTAC Board Meeting, where gun violence was being discussed and Cure Violence Global (CVG) was present to present their national model for violence interruption work. Brittany Coleman gave a presentation on the city’s gun violence prevention efforts. In this meeting, County Commissioner Prizzia moved to direct staff to work with CTAC and the City of Gainesville to determine potential budget needs for implementing the Cure Violence model in Alachua County. County Commissioner Cornell, a member of the CTAC Board, directed CTAC staff to work with the City and County Manager to provide up to $250,000 of one-time funding to enhance community-based gun violence prevention efforts.

June 5th – City Staff presented at the first Alliance meeting and shared our grant proposal to create programming for justice involved youth returning back into the community from confinement through the DOJ Community-Based Violence grant opportunity.

June 13th – Pastor Duncan sent an email withdrawing his Cease Violence in the Hood proposal from consideration citing: “After careful consideration, we believe that the presence of multiple similar ideas, without a unified collaborative effort, may not yield the most impactful outcomes for our community.” In this email, Pastor Duncan also indicated that CVG offered his CBO the opportunity to partner on a “potential” DOJ grant and he declined, the specific grant was not named.  

In an effort to fulfil the County Commission and CTAC motions, all Alliance stakeholders met regularly to discuss gun violence prevention program needs. In these discussions, City staff proposed that CVG be used for training and technical assistance. County staff indicated that they were in communication with CVG to discuss the available services they could potentially provide. No decisions to contract with CVG were ever announced by County staff in those meetings. Staff did conduct research on CVG and discovered that this year several cities announced ending contracts with CVG. These cities include Jacksonville, St. Louis, and Peoria.

October 1st – City staff were made aware via the DOJ grant website that Cure Violence Global (CVG) was awarded the Community-Based Violence Initiative grant. City staff notified county staffer Tom Tonkavich who indicated he was not aware. Shortly after, Mr. Tonkavich sent an email with a link to the DOJ site which indicated that CVG’s grant was to specifically work with Gainesville, FL and Charlottesville, VA. The County staff indicated they were unaware who CVG collaborated with and why the award was specifically for Gainesville, FL.

At subsequent Alliance planning meetings that month, County staff members were unable to verify who had worked with CVG in partnership with the grant. At an Alliance planning meeting in November, County staff reported that a faith leader and someone from the County whom they were unable to name provided letters of support for the CVG grant. Members of the Alliance planning team expressed significant concern about the lack of information shared. County staff invited CVG to the December Alliance meeting to share about the grant deliverables and partners and provide clarity.

Dec 11th – CVG presented to the Alliance and indicated they received letters of support from the County and Pastor Gerard Duncan.  During this meeting, City representatives questioned CVG leadership about the proposal process and lack of engagement with the City.

December 12th – County Attorney Bob Swain sent to City staff a copy of the County’s letter of support signed by Board Chair Mary Alford and endorsed by the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners.

Dec 13th – CVG CEO Dr. Williams sent the letters of support they received along with an email indicating they have decided to withdraw from the partnership due to the City's hostility and mischaracterization of CVG at the Alliance meeting.  

In that meeting, CVG indicated they had been informed the City did not want to participate with them and they believed the information as given. Unfortunately, CVG was misled and it was the City which was mischaracterized. CVG has not spoken directly with any City staff or City official throughout their involvement. Frustration and confusion are valid, and the City remains committed to continued transparency and open communication moving forward.