But the news isn’t all bad for the struggling Simpson Street youth facility, which needs the money to avoid being forced to close its doors.
City council on Monday unanimously approved a motion asking administration to take a thorough look at city coffers to determine if the money can be found to keep it operational until next March, when once again they hope to successfully qualify for funding through the city’s community and cultural program.
However, city officials said unless Panetta gets his paperwork in order, he could very well be denied again next year.
Coun. Rebecca Johnson said the Underground Gym is putting council between a rock and a hard place. Praising Panetta’s hard work to keep it alive for seven years, feeding underprivileged youth, teaching them to box and about physical fitness and keeping them off the street, Johnson said nevertheless, the city has rules that must be adhered to for money to go out the door.
“I feel we’re being strung up and saying we don’t care,” Johnson said, noting the city has provided $110,000 to the Underground Gym since 2003. “We really worked hard to get them funding for 2010.
“I want the community to well understand that the city has well supported this organization. We can’t just hand money out. As a councillor, I’m not prepared to just hand money to organizations. At some point they have to be accountable.”
Panetta, who wasn’t at Monday’s Committee of the Whole meeting, instead sent a pair of parents and a volunteer to sing the praises of the Underground Gym.
Eva Monkman, a mother of four whose kids are regulars at the facility, said the east-end area needs the Underground Gym to stay open to give its children something productive to do with their time.
“The gym has helped me in a lot of ways,” she said. “I think it could help others the same way. It would be a sad day if it closed.”
Monkman said as a parent it’s important to her to know her kids are safe when they’re not at home or at school.
“There are a lot of unsavoury people out there,” she said. “Peter keeps them safe.”
Holly Papassay, who joined Monkman in making the funding request, said she and other volunteers plan to help Panetta straighten out his paperwork.
Though his idea didn’t get tabled, Coun. Iain Angus suggested it might make sense to form an arm’s-length youth board of directors that would free Panetta and other organizations from having to worry about the paperwork, while at the same time providing the accountability city officials require.
“The operator of the Underground Gym could then focus on what he does best, which is working with the kids,” said Angus, adding the city needs to do something.
“We know that a big part of criminal activity is youth that have time on their hands.”
Coun. Mark Bentz asked administration to find out exactly what the $15,000 would be used for before he’d approve the funding.
