Hello to everyone. We are now playing with the web and have created a Facebook. Look for me in my name…”Cassandra Bush”. I don’t share much but I have many friends. Just be very careful…Facebook is addictive and hours will pass before you know it. Have fun and have a blessed day.

Please keep up with the budget for Jacksonville. Also, contact your family and friends to follow very carefully.

The Power is in your Hands.

to get involved. Please speak up so that your voice may be heard. It is important that you contact your city council representative and express your desire for the new taxes, funding cuts and add on.

Believe it or not, your voice does count.

I would like to invite you to log on to: Jaxoutloud.com Here you get to voice your opinion, speak your mind and see the .02 that everyone else shares.

You get to even share with a few of the City Council members also.

You get to read bills, get a good understanding and ask questions too.

The definition of bitterness is: Resentment (also called ranklement) is an emotion of anger or bitterness felt repeatedly, as a result of a real or imagined wrong done.

Can you imagine how much energy is spent in bitterness? Especially when you feel left behind or left out? Imagine how much energy is spent calling on the telephone to see if others feel the way you do.

Bitterness often times is over something or someone that has nothing to do with you. Bitterness sometimes arrive because someone else is bitter.

True it is hard to be happy when you have worked so hard only to see that you, again, have been left behind or overlooked for your work.

But, think about it. Is it bitterness or is it really jealousy?

President Obama won because people voted for change. It is difficult to bring change when bitterness is in the way. Clear and direct strategies are hard to come forth when bitterness is on the tongue or in the hearts of those wanting change.

An article was written in 2005 about racial discrimination and lack of access to capital and business training which can hinder minority entrepreneurs in Jacksonville. Instead of focusing on bitterness, we must demand business training to remove the hindrances and barriers.

We must stop throwing stones at each other. If this city is lopsided economically then the citizens must put pressure on our political leaders to demand change.

Do the math…there are 19 members on the council; 14 white and 5 black; 13 republicans and 6 democrats. And we expect 5 people to override and win the votes of the majority and we do not go to city council meetings to support them?

They are our voice…but our voice has laryngitis because when we open our mouths out spews bitterness and resentment and no solutions.

Let us be honest about our true feelings. Bitterness comes from jealousy and the definition of jealousy is – covetous: showing extreme cupidity; painfully desirous of another’s advantages;

Jacksonville, we must work together. That means political leaders must work with ALL citizens within the community and not the chose few.

We must make strides to ensure that racial discrimination and lack of access to capital and business training can no longer hinder minority entrepreneurs in Jacksonville.

We must work together. If you need training, ask for it, seek it out and reach. Go to city council meetings and bring forth your solutions and keep your fingers in your pockets.

As long as any mother, father, grandparents must stop their daily lives to identify a child at the morgue, there is much work to be done. As long as we have grandparents raising their grandchildren because parents are incarcerated, there is much work to be done. As long as anyone has to be shot by a police officer, whatever the reason, there is work to be done.

We live in the United States of America and not Dakar!!!

Bitterness must stop and work must begin.

We must stop the song/game of “my dog is better than your dog”…a generation is dying, cannot read on grade level, dropping out of school and cannot compete to get comparable jobs.

We must stop pointing fingers at our leaders making accusations about what they are not doing! What are we doing? What are you doing? What has been your financial sacrifice? What has your giving cost you?

It takes a village to raise a child, what must the villagers do to keep that same child alive.

We all have a responsibility not only to our youth because that is where the funding is, but to our seniors, our disabled, our upper, middle and lower working class; and yes the homeless are a part of us and we cannot, as a businessman in city hall once stated…ship them off to the Northside.

Organizations must stop changing their mission to match funding streams and start chasing souls that are lost and hearts that are broken and families that are split up because the shelters do not take married people and keep them together but he must sleep with the men and she must sleep with the women.

Our youth are watching us fight over what group is better than another group…who is getting more money than not…

The kids want to know if long after the funding dries up, who will still be there for them to take shelter with. They want to know…who cares? They want to know do you really love and care about us if your paycheck is gone? Will you still try to help our families who are hungry, working everyday and still live in poverty??? And, yes our parents work…two jobs. They want to know are you teaching at our school because you really want to be there or are you there because you got kicked out of the better schools from the other side of town and you just need a paycheck with two months vacation in the summer?

Do you really, really give a d__ __n?

That is what our youth want to know.

The BITTERNESS MUST STOP.

Good evening
I wanted to share with you the coverage on the Journey as they began the task of answering my questions of how THORMINC would fit in as respect to the RFP that had been issued.

Today was the last day of coming together in order to bring balance and equity to all organizations having the ability to apply equally and fairly.

There were many things that were finally placed on the table. Many of which I still have a difficult time in describing.

1. They looked at the ordinance on groups only able to apply for 24% of their 3 year average revenue. For small non-profits who has a revenue that is not $100,000 or more, will be reviewed by an ad hoc committee to make it where they would be able to apply for funds. Those details will be worked out later but not in time for this RFP but that will be fine because this is still on the table.

2. More than one award will be given to this RFP in respect to having scores of 75 or higher. There will be wording that will award more than just ONE award and that is a plus.

3. Date for opening RFP has been moved to Dec. 31, 2008.

4. Insurance will be an allowable expense with a two year tail. This was explained in great detail. In fact, Kerri Steward understood the reading of the insurance as I understood it and with that, the insurance issue really did need clarification.

5. In-kind contributions could be added into the average three year revenue which will increase the bottom line for a small non-profit which will increase the amount that a small non-profit would be able to apply for.

6. A bill will be introduced to change the number of awards for the RFP for city council to vote upon.

7. An Ad-hoc committee will be established, which will also include an ex-offender’s input as to the needs of an ex-offender. This person will be someone who is now successful in the community and has been there and done that and will have a stakehold in what it takes to successfully re-enter the community.

We all left the table knowing that all was done to completely answer all questions and to remove any and all barriers that were inadvertently in place. All agreed that no barriers were in place intentionally and things will be put into place to look at the entire RFP process in order to ensure that it will not appear that any one group or ethnic groups would be intentionally left out. A complete and diverse work went into this and THORMINC is really satisfied in the process and the outcomes.

With all of the addendum’s in place, it is now fair.

Thank you.

Cassandra Bush
Executive Director

p.s. more to come.