A Bay Area agency slated to receive Federal Recovery Act dollars has been deemed high risk and may owe the State over half a million dollars in unacceptable expenditures.
“The State’s Department of Community Services Department (CSD), as well as the County and City of San Francisco, have done an exemplary job in identifying serious problems with the Economic Opportunity Council of San Francisco (EOCSF),” said California Inspector General Laura Chick who was appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to oversee the spending of the state’s stimulus funds.
The Economic Opportunity Council was due to receive $159,000 is stimulus dollars to perform weatherization projects in the community.
“The CSD has deemed the EOCSF high risk and has taken immediate action to stop the impending transfer of stimulus dollars,” continued Chick. “However, this issue now rests with the Federal Government to determine if the State is required to not only continue to fund this agency, but also to give it Recovery dollars. As we saw on Wall Street, there needs to be a line in the sand when it comes to inappropriately spending taxpayer dollars.”
In designating the EOCSF high risk, the CSD found the following areas of concern:
-- As much as $542,478.47 in disallowed expenditures including co-mingling funds, board of directors retreats at a luxury casino, coffee services, drinking water and flowers
-- Financial management deficiencies with no feasible plan to bring the agency into compliance
-- Ability to complete weatherization work is in doubt
“President Obama and Governor Schwarzenegger have made it clear that the Recovery Act dollars must be maximized for the public benefit and be spent wisely and well. Funding an agency that time and again has been unable to bring itself out of problematic conditions is not in line with this mandate from the President and Governor,” said Chick.
I must admit that, knowing our city’s track record for electing do-nothing politicians, I initially had my doubts about Laura Chick‘s capabilities as L.A. City Controller.
However, when it comes to exposing waste and fraud, installing Chick as our new state Inspector General was one of the best decisions Schwarzenegger ever made.
Laura Chick is proof that not all Democrats are hard party-liners and bleeding-heart socialists.
The Ugly American 
