Jackson's decentralized, disorganized approach to managing millions in state and federal grants over the years has created a system where top city administrators are unable to track spending or hold anyone responsible for poor accounting....Good ole' Sid Salter writes occasionally about Mississippi as a federal ward, kept afloat by entitlement funding. Jackson is a vivid case in point. The article, and further reading, are highly recommended.
Nevels, who spent the past year locating and investigating 35 grants spread throughout the city bureaucracy, delivered the withering assessment Monday to the Jackson City Council Budget Committee. Nevels said the city needs to implement a centralized grant-writing and monitoring program to properly manage the money and hold city departments accountable....
"There is no way that we could be in compliance with such a hit-and-miss approach to this," Ward 7 Councilwoman Margaret Barrett-Simon said. "There is way too much to fix here without the responsibility designated to one person."
Nevels may be that person. She told the council she is hoping to be named to the new post of city auditor. If so, her new job will keep her busy.
The city has wrestled for months with demands from the federal government to repay misspent money from grants, some of which date back a decade. In its meeting this morning, the city council will be asked to approve payment of $45,000 to the U.S. Treasury Department for misspent law enforcement grant money awarded in 2002 and 2004.
Report: Grants poorly handled | clarionledger.com | The Clarion-Ledger
