Ocoee commissioner George Oliver aims to launch youth programs

It all started during a police ride-along. Ocoee District 4 Commissioner George Oliver spoke with teenagers who had just been caught trying to open unlocked car doors.

When he approached them and asked why they were knowingly committing a crime, they gave him an unexpected answer: They were bored.

Their answer made him think about how he could help, particularly in his new role as an Ocoee commissioner.

Oliver is the newest member of the city’s commission; he was sworn in March 20. He has since generated ideas and proposed programs he hopes could both help Ocoee’s youth find employment and reduce the chances of them resorting to illegal activities.

His most recent initiative was the Ocoee Summer Job Fair, held June 9 at West Oaks Mall. 

A little more than 200 people and 25 businesses showed up at the fair, Oliver said. About 16 teenagers were hired on the spot, and several more managed to obtain interviews in the following weeks, he said.

Oliver also proposed a summer program that would employ about 10 high school-age teenagers in the city’s departments at an hourly rate of $10 based on a 20-hour workweek. The goal of such a program, which would have cost about $15,000, was to help them get acclimated and see how a government works. 

“The commission thought it was a great idea,” he said. “They like the idea of being able to invest in our youth. However, they didn’t have the money to do it. So without the money, we thought about maybe doing it next year on a grander scale. So right now, since we’re in the middle of our budgeting process, I’ll be fighting to set aside enough funds to hire some youth next year.”

Another one of Oliver’s pet projects is to establish a “junior city commission” comprising high-school students. He envisions a program where students could work with city commissioners for a day and have it count toward volunteer hours or school credit.

“I started thinking, well once we get this program off the ground, what’s the next step after that?” he said. “So I thought we could create a junior commission. One of the potential requirements could be having the commission spending at least an hour a month with them to show them what working for the city entails. So my goal is to reach out to the Ocoee High School principal or the School Board and see if we can work together to get the groundwork laid out. Maybe we could set up a good model that other cities could also use.”

Yet another initiative Oliver has in mind are workshops the city would host that invites speakers to provide tips on professional attire, interview etiquette, résumé-writing techniques, financial security and similar job-related skills.

However, Oliver has hit a few financial snags with his proposals. Most of the city’s general budget is earmarked for other projects and essential expenses, which leaves no funding for community initiatives commissioners might want to pursue, he said.

To circumvent this issue, Oliver aims to create a nonprofit foundation that would allow donations to the city for such initiatives.

“A lot of cities have these type of foundations — Orlando is one of them,” Oliver said. “So their commissioners have budgets that allow them to push for community initiatives, but Ocoee is a city that doesn’t have that. I have no funds to be able to push for my community initiatives. I have to raise the money somehow, and once the money is raised, I need to be able to put that money into an account that is transparent, so that citizens can see: Here’s the money we collected and here’s how it’s being used.”

Oliver hopes having the foundation would allow him and his fellow commissioners to fund a variety of programs aimed at helping the community, but his own goal is to provide Ocoee’s youth the resources and knowledge they need to succeed, he emphasized.

“Look at the average age of our commission … we’re not going to be here forever,” he said. “So what are we doing as leaders in our city to prepare the next generation of leaders? Such programs have not yet been initiated in Ocoee, so I figured if no one else is going to do it, why not me? Why shouldn’t I push these ideas? I want to be that guy holding up a sign who’s able to say I want you to vote for this young guy or this young lady here because they are the future of our city. I want to be able to hold up their sign and support them. That’s my goal.”