CRA Boots Grantee for Pushing Job Scheme

City says Juanita Shanks tried to get trainees involved in her personal sales project

The woman who ran the City of Miami's job training program in Overtown for the Community Redevelopment Agency has been fired for trying to sell her financial multi-level marketing scheme to trainees she was overseeing, according to CRA Chairman Richard Dunn, a Miami Commissioner.

A letter explaining her firing was obtained by NBC Miami.

Juanita Shanks actually started the jobs training program and got nerly $500,000 in grant money from the CRA. On Monday, an anonymous tip came in to the new CRA Executive Director, Pieter Bockweg, who was hired to clean house at the CRA and make the long-troubled agency earn trust.

Bockweg said he called Shanks in for a meeting, during which he says she confirmed what she had done.

"Bad judgement," said Bockweg. But he immediately fired her. Her firing must be confirmed by the CRA Board.

Shanks told NBC Miami on the telephone that she didn't understand what the controversy was about. Before she would answer specific questions, she hung up the phone. A CRA spokesperson said Shanks' business was part of Primerica, an online, at-home sales network that targets middle and lower income people with financial guidance and invstments, including life insurance.

Commissioner Dunn said he was proud he had boosted the number of job training slots from 60 to 120, but wanted Shanks out so the CRA could continue its turnaround.

"We must have trust," he said, in order to achieve great success in the CRA district, which includes parts of downtown MIami, the Omni area and Overtown. Tens of millions of dollars is designated for CRA projects each year. Dunn and City Commissioner Marc Sarnoff brought in Bockweg and others to make CRA "transparent and accountable."

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