Lake Wales Mayor/Pastor Jack Hilligoss has real incubator questions to answer; but they're not about a Tax Collector "investigation"
The $1.2M incubator was never under tax Collector investigation; but its chief operating officer *is* a pastor podcast partner with Hilligoss and part of his church's "teaching team."
“I am Derrick Blue, part of the HighPoint teaching team.”
— Pastor Derrick Blue, HighPoint Church’s “Cutting Room Floor” podcast, Jan. 8, 2024. Blue is also Chief Operating Officer of Florida Development Corporation, Inc. the for-profit corporation that received a $1.2M city contract to run the BizLink incubator. HighPoint church lead pastor Jack Hilligoss is Lake Wales mayor.
“It’s not an investigation. Someone told us they didn’t think some of the businesses in the incubator had a business tax receipt, which is a license. It cost about $35. We would go and talk to the businesses and make sure they get a business tax receipt. We have done that and they’re all in compliance now. This is something we do all day long every day. To say it was an investigation is an overdramatization of the situation.”
— Polk County Tax Collector Joe Tedder, answering my question about the Tax Collector “investigation” of the Lake Wales incubator reported by Lake Wales News. Tedder acknowledged some businesses were out of compliance; but it seems dishonest to call this an “investigation.”
Derrick Blue is a pastor on the “teaching team” with Lake Wales Mayor Jack Hilligoss at HighPoint Church, which Hilligoss leads. Hilligoss and Blue, along with two other HighPoint pastors on the “teaching team,” do a podcast together called “The Cutting Room Floor.” That’s Blue on the far left. Hilligoss is next to him.
Hilligoss, you’ll recall from yesterday, is the pastor/mayor who attacked his own constituents from his pulpit for much more than just “overdramatized” news reporting by a website. Indeed, he didn’t bother to try to address the content of the story at all. He just attacked all constituents he considers his enemies.
They did that with the help of a group of people who are consistent agitators. And unfortunately some of the leaders of our city. And they do this often. They do it every election cycle. The Democratic Cub of Lake Wales. Prominent citizens, who made it very clear — they’ve made it clear — that don’t believe Christians have a place in politics or at the very least, you’re supposed to park your convictions at the door.
As already mentioned, Derrick Blue is both a HighPoint “teaching team member” and Chief Operating Officer of Florida Development Corp., Inc. (FDC), which is the for-profit corporation that received a $1.2M taxpayer-funded contract from the city of Lake Wales, the city Hilligoss serves as mayor.
Blue represented the for-profit incubator at the most recent Lake Wales City Commission meeting, defending it against the Lake Wales News story. You can watch him here.
That Hilligoss/Blue relationship; how the for-profit incubator contract came to be; and how it is monitored by city officials is what would most interest me if I were a Lake Wales citizen.
I did not get deeply into the “investigation” claims of Lake Wales News in my recent article about Hilligoss attacking constituents and from his pulpit. I was focused on that pulpit part, not the “investigation.” But I did mention it and build a few critical sentences around it. I’ve edited those sentences out and put in an update reflecting Joe Tedder’s clarification.
It appears that some of the businesses connected to the incubator were a little sloppy with licensing payments. One could argue the client businesses were poorly prepared by Blue’s company about what was required. I have no idea, at all, if real business is being done there in way that serves the community. I don’t know what Lake Wales is getting for its investment.
But it is unfair and dishonest to say the Tax Collector investigated the incubator over licensing, rather than simply facilitating compliance.
Transparency and honesty are the only way out of the Lake Wales rage tornado
As I wrote in my piece yesterday:
I would really, really, really, really like to stay clear of the space-bending gravitational pull of Lake Wales’ endless grievances against itself. Lake Wales is the most miserably divided community of its size I have ever seen…
So I will not be a regular on the Lake Wales beat if I can help it at all…
But multiple people sent me versions of this clip [of Hilligoss’ pulpit denunciation] in dismay; and I felt some obligation to help. But I plan to run away as fast a I can after this. Please forgive me. I think I’ve done my time.
Trying to make sense and catalog all of all this bad will is exhibit #1 of that toxic Lake Wales gravity I hoped to avoid.
So let me leave you with some basic questions that Lake Wales citizens should ask and Mayor/Pastor Jack Hilligoss (and the rest of the Lake Wales city government) should answer. A serious mayor and/or spiritual leader would answer them. In Hilligoss’ place, I would certainly answer them.
If Hilligoss wants to answer these questions here, I will happily publish them.
Did the Lake Wales CRA issue an RFP or pursue any other competitive bid process for the creation of a business incubator?
Why did it choose a for-profit management company, Florida Development Corporation Inc. (FDC), rather than a non-profit model, like Lakeland’s “Catapult”?
How much of that $1.2M goes to profit of FDC — and to salary for officers. How much is being spent on actually developing Lake Wales businesses?
How did FDP and Pastor Derrick Blue come to the attention of the Lake Wales Community Redevelopment Agency and the Lake Wales City Commission?
How long has Derrick Blue been affiliated with Mayor Jack Hilligoss’ HighPoint Church? How long has he been a “pastor” there, as he is identified in the church’s “The Cutting Room Floor” podcast?
Is Pastor Derrick Blue paid or otherwise compensated for his “Teaching Team” or podcast work at HighPoint Church, where Lake Wales Mayor Jack Hillgoss is head pastor? Is Derrick Blue a church employee who answers to Hilligoss?
Did the three-year contract with FDC have any metrics or deliverables or written expectations? Has FDC met them?
Does Blue’s role with Hilligoss’ church and podcast create an ongoing ethical conflict for Hilligoss? Is he required to recuse himself from votes concerning the incubator and Pastor Blue?
Is there a religious preference for a business to participate in the incubator? Does a HighPoint church member have an advantage in pursuing taxpayer-funding from Lake Wales?
Answering these questions transparently and forthrightly would do a lot more to help Lake Wales than either exaggerating an “investigation” or condemning whole swaths of citizens as “wicked” from the pulpit.
Generally speaking, the appearance of conflict of interest is as bad as confirmed conflict of interest.
The involved parties may opt for the disinfecting property of sunshine, or may instead fight those who have questions. Of course, given some time, the latter has never improved the situation of someone with something to keep hidden. County may look away, maybe even State, but how does one distract the IRS?
If books and minutes are clean, then maybe share them?