| WHERE DID ALL THE MONEY GO ?
Some Community Groups are upset they received only $83,000 of $1.36
million in federal grants to fight drugs. Others say the money was
better spent porganizing and training local leaders.
copied w/o permission from
The Lawrence Eagle-Tribune
8 March 1995
By Anita Perkins - Eagle Tribune Writer
LAWRENCE--It was an unforgettable season for the Roberto Clemente
Little League.
One hundred aspiring ball players from 3 to 12 heard the crack of a
bat and screams from the stands, many of them for the first tune.
The league was founded two years ago by Ernesto Montanez a city
firefighter who wanted to do something for Hispanic children who
could not afford the fee to join established leagues.
Mr. Montanez is not sure his League will have a third year.
Today, the partnership is in an uproar over how it is run and how it
has spent its money. Leaders of the partnership are at odds over how
the remaining money will be used.
Some want all the money to go to community groups. Others say it is
better to spend it on staff and programs to train local leaders to
carry on the fight once the grant ends. When the grant was announced,
Lawrence Mayor Kevin Sullivan pledged it would go "directly into city
neighborhoods and would not create another social service agency'
filled with bureaucrats."
Martin "Joe" Cotton, head of the nonprofit agency awarded the grant,
was quoted as saying only 5 percent would go to administration. The
grant application stated "the project will spend up to $50,000;per
year in direct service grants." That has not happened. Of $1.36
million received so far, the partnership has spent 94 percent; on its
own costs -- administration, staff salaries and benefits, training and
travel.
The community groups have received less than 6 percent, or about
$83,000. The partnership had set 10 percent as its own goal. The
biggest single grant was $9,000. By comparison, Boston University will
receive $95,000 for its services.
Mr. Montanez and leaders of other community groups that the
partnership was supposed to empower instead feel bitter and
frustrated. They say they were forced to go through bureaucratic hoops
and had to wait months to get any money.
Mr. Montanez says the help he finally got -- about $3,300 -- was not
worth it. He has no plans to seek any more, though he may not be able
to continue his league without it.
The partnership's steering committee of community leaders and
volunteers is also asking questions about the grant money and
demanding spending records from partnership officials.
"They always tell us they're looking into it," said Kathy E.
Anastopoulous, a member of the steering committee for five years.
"This is one heck of a mess. And it's been this way for a long time."
Last week, the partnership's project director resigned.
Juan Pablo Romero, who is also pastor of the Church of God in
Lawrence, said he leaves "after a lot of soul-searching."
He said his resignation stems in part from the controversy over the
partnership as well as the concerns of his congregation. "Their lives
are very simple. They want to avoid any sort of disturbance," he
explained. "When they see their spiritual leader in danger they
react."
The 26-member steering committee is also taking a hard look at the
partnership. The committee meets today at 5:30 p.m. at Lawrence
Savings Bank, 255 Essex St. A public forum is planned next Wednesday
at 5:30 p.m. at Tarbox School.
Ms. Anastopoulous, who works for Merrimack Valley Elder Services, said
it was only recently that the steering committee learned it has the
final say over spending. Up until a year ago, she said, the committee
deferred to Mr. Cotton. He is the executive director of the
Psychological Center Inc., the non-profit agency that was awarded the
grant for the partnership.
"Now the steering committee can move forward and not be intimidated by
Joe," Mrs. Anastopoulous said.
Mr. Cotton strongly disagrees. In fact, he blames early members of the
steering committee for many of the money problems surrounding grants
to community groups. "I find it funny," Mr. Cotton said of the
complaints of intimidation, calling them "a lie."
He said that from the beginning he has tried to get the steering
committee to take the leadership role. "Committee members never asked
for additional information," he said. He said financial reports have
always been available to them. The committee and Mr. Cotton are also
at loggerheads over the future of the "mini-grants" to community
groups.
Mr. Cotton says he would like to eliminate them in the final year of
the program and use the extra money to hire someone to teach
management skills to Hispanic leaders. But Ms. Anastopoulous promised
"the steering committee won't let that happen."
[subhead] Where has money gone?
The Lawrence Community Partnership was formed in 1991. It was one of
252 such groups created across the nation under a $500 million
federal program. Lawrence's grant was the second largest.
Where has the money gone?
Spending records provided to The Eagle-Tribune by partnership
officials are sketchy. Other records were unavailable. Partnership
officials say some were destroyed in a fire last year.
The only record of the partnership's first year is a single sheet that
shows it was authorized to receive $444,000 in grant money but spent
only $94,000.
The partnership did not use the remaining $350,000 it was entitled to
receive, according to its financial; statement. Mr. Cotton said he
does not know whether the partnership is still entitled to the unused
allotment. Other records show that in the last three years, the
partnership has received approximately $1.27 million in grants. Here
is where that money has gone, according to the records:
More than $700,000, or more than half of the budget, for salaries
and benefits for employees of the partnership.
More than $250,000, 20 percent of the total budget, to the
Psychological Center. The payments to the Psychological Center
cover its administrative costs, including a portion of Mr.
Cotton's $90,000 a year salary.
More than $59,000 to Boston University for evaluations and
surveys. Another $36,000 is budgeted for BU's services this year.
More than $21,000 for a survey on drug and alcohol abuse by a
consulting firm from Maine. More than $20,000 a year budgeted to
pay for a staffer to help with the evaluation.
Tens of thousands of dollars for travel, including trips in the
past two years to Puerto Rico, San Francisco, Washington,
Baltimore, Santa Barbara, Calif., New York and San Antonio, Texas.
The partnership has been unable to provide a total for travel
expenses or to provide documentation or details for most of the
trips.
[subhead]A few extra dollars
The Eagle-Tribune interviewed leaders of a dozen of the community
groups that have received mini-grants from the partnership. Many said
they joined the partnership to get a few extra dollars. They started
up new projects such as the baseball league, a children's choir,
summer programs led by young people and a social club for Hispanic
youths.
But the rules on how the money would be handed out changed midstream,
they contend. Expecting the seed money up front, organizers -- usually
volunteers -- later learned that they would have to spend their own
money then wait to be reimbursed.
The organizers also say that to get the money they were required to
attend several sessions aimed at teaching them about record-keeping,
management and grant-writing. But most of those interviewed said they
believed the meetings were a waste of time.
"I'd rather be out playing ball with my kids," Mr. Montanez said. The
rules for distributing the money also caused problems for Mr.
Montanez.
On the eve of the Roberto Clemente Little League's year-end banquet,
he was still waiting for money to pay for trophies for the players. A
panicked Mr. Montanez was able to come up with the money by cashing in
Red Sox tickets he had purchased earlier in the year for his players.
By that time, the Red Sox were on strike.
Circulo Familiar, a children's choir founded by Jenny Garcia, had a
similar experience after being told it would get $3,000 for choir
uniforms and other expenses. Mrs. Garcia said she was still waiting
days before the choir's end-of-year performance, after having used her
own money to pay for the event.
"It was a sad Sunday. On Friday they told us they had no money. But we
gave them all the receipts," said a choir mother and volunteer, Nylsa
Caraballo. "We managed to pull off the ceremony, but we were really
upset."
It took nearly six months and many plaintive pleas before Mrs. Garcia
received her reimbursement, she said.
Mrs. Garcia said waiting for the money was a hardship, though she
still sings the praises of the partnership. "They believed in us,"
Mrs. Garcia said.
Partnership officials say they began asking for receipts before giving
out the money because group leaders did not always comply with
record-keeping rules. "We have to make sure the money is honestly
used. We can't give it out as quickly as they may like," Mr. Cotton
said. "At times we waived the receipts."
On several occasions, Mr. Cotton said he wrote out checks to some
groups from The Psychological Center's own account. Partnership
officials blame the criticism on sour grapes from disgruntled
individuals who wanted more money than they received. "People thought
it was a pork barrel," Mr. Cotton said. Mr. Cotton and other
partnership leaders also defend giving 6 percent of the money directly
to the community groups while spending 94 percent on administrative
and other costs.
"It takes pencils, paper, telephones and four walls to bring people
together," Mr. Cotton said. "You can't put a cost on this." Mr. Cotton
said most of the money has gone to pay the salaries of nine community
organizers and coordinators who work with the grassroots groups.
He said the partnership staff is not another government bureaucracy.
"A bureaucrat is someone who shuffles papers and sits around. These
are a group of hard-working people rolling up their sleeves," Mr.
Cotton said.
"These people knocked on doors to get people involved in programs,
meetings, voter registration and to help evaluate the partnership,"
Mr. Cotton explained.
While prevention is difficult to measure, Mr. Cotton said he believes
the partnership has made progress in the war on drugs and violence by
bringing people together. He pointed to the partnership's role in
forming the Youth Congress in which hundreds of young people banded
together to tackle drug and violence issues, and the Interfaith
Coalition, which has brought together clergy from all denominations in
workshops and a citywide prayer breakfast.
Other successes, he said, include the Hispanic Elderly Coalition,
Hispanic Social Organization Coalition and Puerto Rico 500 Committee.
Staffers helped these and other small groups get on their feet by
showing them how to organize meetings, raise money and publicize their
activities, he said. for example, in the Springfield Street
neighborhood, a full-time partnership employee showed residents how to
organize to continue their campaign against street crime.
But some former staffers and members of some of the grassroots groups
see it differently. They criticized the partnership for pulling them
away from community activities. They say too much was spent on such
organizational details as Roberts Rules of order and how to elect
officers. They also contend that the tiny programs would fare better
with more money less interference.
Mr. Cotton said the federal grant rues did not require the partnership
to give out any money directly to the community groups. The Haverhill
Community Partnership, for example, gave out none. Mr. Cotton also
maintained there was a 10 percent cap on the amount of money that
could be given in the form of mini-grants.
However, the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention in Washington,
D.C., which administers the grant program, said the 10 percent cap was
lifted after the first year. After that, "we left it up to each
partnership," said Dennis Wynne, Administrator for CSAP.
Mr. Cotton said he is now considering eliminating the mini-grants in the
final year of the 5-year program because there are better ways to
spend the anti-drug money than on Little League. "There has never been
a trophy. or a uniform that ever prevented substance abuse," Mr.
Cotton said. "Those kinds of programs have no staying power and do not
address the root causes of drugs and violence." Mr. Cotton said it
makes more . sense to use the money for more "meaningful projects,"
like hiring an organizer to promote the management skills of Hispanic
community leaders and push to register Hispanic voters.
"This is the final year of the grant, we have to think about the best
way to continue the work of the partnership," said Mr. Cotton.
However, steering committee president Dianne D. Cruz said she and her
colleagues have a different view. "We're looking to give out the
whole amount. It will be great to see grassroots organizations grow,"
she said.
It is also possible that this will not be the final year of the grant.
According to Mr. Wynne, another $30 million in federal grant money is
in the pipeline to continue the work of the partnerships. "It will be
the same thing but on a grander scale," said Mr. Wynne,: adding that
"the White House sees this community effort as a worthwhile way to
fight substance abuse.
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