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Alachua County Commission cuts ties with gun violence prevention nonprofit

Alachua Executive Liaison and Public Safety and Community Relations Officer Carl Smart provides a proposed direction for the Alachua County Commission on the Gun Violence Prevention Initiative Plan. Standing behind him is county Interim Fire Chief Joseph Shawn Hillhouse. (Jada Ross/ WUFT News)
Alachua Executive Liaison and Public Safety and Community Relations Officer Carl Smart provides a proposed direction for the Alachua County Commission on the Gun Violence Prevention Initiative Plan. Standing behind him is county Interim Fire Chief Joseph Shawn Hillhouse. (Jada Ross/ WUFT News)

The Alachua County Commission voted 3-1 Tuesday to cut ties with a gun violence prevention nonprofit after the group had a falling out with the City of Gainesville.

The Gainesville City Commission and Alachua County Board of Commissioners declared gun violence a public health crisis in 2023. At the time, the county also formed a local partnership called the Gun Violence Prevention Alliance, consisting of the Children's Trust of Alachua County, Santa Fe College, and Gainesville. The alliance partnered with Cure Violence Global (CVG), a Chicago-based organization that helps provide federal grant money to local communities to deal with gun violence.

During Tuesday’s meeting, Alachua Executive Liaison and Public Safety and Community Relations Officer Carl Smart said while the Alliance has been successful, the partnership with CVG has not.

"That fell through. They decided to withdraw from working with us," he said.

CVG had stopped actively working with the alliance after Gainesville declined grant funding from the group while the city worked on its own gun violence prevention plan. During the meeting, the board went back and forth on whether or not to continue to try to work with CVG or to cut ties and work solely with the Alliance.

Alachua County Commissioner Mary Alford believes it is the county's responsibility alone to tackle the issues of gun violence, and that the issue is too dire to wait for a non-profit to work with the county. She also argued several at-risk communities are outside Gainesville, meaning resources will be needed for them beyond Gainesville’s plan.

"I think this work is too important for us to just give up,” she said

Alachua County Commissioner Anna Prizzia argued the board should continue trying to work with CVG, even if it means forming a contract separate from the alliance. She placed the blame on the deterioration of the relationship on the City of Gainesville.

"The city of Gainesville basically said they did not want them working in the city of Gainesville. They did not want them here. They wanted them gone," she said.

Prizzia doesn’t think the Alliance is the right solution to serve the communities Alford mentioned.

"I think we actually need to put together a structured task force that's actually going to put together a strategic plan for our community and involve people who are in these neighborhoods," she said.

Despite her concerns, the motion to no longer move forward with CVG and only continue with the locally-based Alliance in creating a strategic plan for the county passed 3-1, with commissioners Marihelen Wheeler, Ken Cornell and Alford supporting it.

Although the county is no longer moving forward with CVG, Smart said the Alliance is still doing its work.

"There is still commitment from the county, the city, and the college to deal with gun violence in this area," Smart said.

Jada is a reporter for WUFT News who can be reached by calling 352-392-6397 or emailing news@wuft.org.