At the West Ward Neighborhood Summit Meeting with Mayor Panto last Wednesday, you may recall that there were a couple of "tense exchanges" (as Michael Duck referred to them) between the mayor and I that started when I asked for a break-down of the $920,000 of Community Development Block Grant money that Easton received this year, and whether or not--since it is HUD money that is defined as being targeted for revitalizing low-income neighborhoods--whether or not we could use some of that money to hire the Ambassadors of Easton to clean up the West Ward the way they do downtown. The answer from the mayor and other City officials in attendance (almost in unison) was that I didn't understand, that that was different, that the Ambassadors of Easton are paid by private funds through the Greater Easton Development Partnership and not public funds. I asked again whether we could possibly use some of that money, since West Wardians in general do not have the means to raise private funds, to pay the Ambassadors of Easton, and was told no, that it had already all been allocated.
Please read the following article from the Two Rivers Blog, as Michael Duck has written a very thorough article on precisely where the money goes--including over $53,000 to Greater Easton Development Partnership, who pay the Ambassadors of Easton to clean up downtown:
Michael Duck's Article on Two Rivers Blog "CDBG heebie jeebie"
You can either post a comment here, or, after clicking on Michael's article above, post a comment on the Two Rivers Blog. Let's let Michael know we appreciate the coverage!
Also disturbing is that CDBG money (our federal tax dollars) that is supposed to supplement City money spent in our neighborhood (our city tax dollars) is instead, being used to substitute for City money that would normally be spent to improve the neighborhood (road repair, code enforcement, etc.)
I foresee this as a major campaign issue for candidates running for West Ward rep on City Council this year.
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6 comments:
So, should we consider this miss appropriation ?
I think I dated her once
She sure gets around eh?
I have a pretty solid grounding in what CDBG is and is not ideally to be used for. HUD, unfortunately, allows cities a long leash to run with when spending this cash but I've always felt the best way to police it's use was at the grass root level (that being us). It is a stretch to say that we get our fair share through "community policing", road repair, code office salaries, etc. Where would we find the actual financial breakdown of the time spent by these entities in our neighborhood and what part of CDBG funds paid fo it? I doubt this information could be produced. Even if it could I find it misrepresentative of the issue.
I agree that we have been set adrift by the city...funds (WWNP and others)that should be used to leverage further improvements are instead viewed as excuses to redirect the other city tax revenue elsewhere because "we already have our money". A sad state of affairs. The idea that an organization like GEDP takes CDBG funds off the table and then we must go back through them to access what we already had is ludicous. If they fund the Anbassadors work downtown through that stream of cash then they can undoubtedly do the same thing in the WW if we desire so. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. They just don't want to answer the question.
DRL
As a resident from another part of the city i can't believe what you are saying. The bulk of all CDBG money is going to the WW PLUS the other newighborhood programs that we will never see.
As for the "community policing" I was at a council meeting asdking for m,oney for another organization that serves the poor ansd in know that the police chief gave a report and has to keep written recordes of where the CDBG money goes ansd I know the feds send auditors to check on it.
We are one comm,unity and should start acting like it rather than dividing us against each other. "Can't we all just get along?"
I am a volunteer with the Main Street Program and the Farmer's Market and I am from the WW. The GEDP DOES NOT FUND the Ambassador Program -- they RAISED the money from the private sector! How many times does that have to be said.
And GEDP has programs to assist businesses in ALL parts of the city not just the downtown.
Just to clarify, AGAIN. LOL
Dennis is right in what he stated. The city for a long time has used that "long leash" to put CDBG funds into paying for services that should be in the general budget. They purposely revel in the "gray area" of government speak to use the funds to cover budget needs.
I always believed that the money should be granted to the organizations who applied for and needed the funds to continue their good work. That is what the funds were intended for.
Dennis is also correct in that it is virtually impossible to make sure the funds are used for their stated purpose. If a certain amount of money goes for community policing in the West Ward, how exactly could one prove it was used for that purpose.
Noel was right to question the mayor at the meeting but he was well versed in what to say as all mayors have been for a long time in Easton. That gray area allows them much latitude to circumvent the spirit in which CDBG funds were meant to be used for.
seems to me that spending CDBG dollars on things like streets, parks, codes, etc. keeps the property taxes down and therefore helpsm the low-mod sections of the WW in two ways -- improvement and lower taxes --that's good in my mind.
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