untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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City of Flint moves forward on $4M neighborhood stabilization grant under threat from feds
Published: Monday, June 14, 2010, 10:12 PM Updated: Tuesday, June 15, 2010, 9:01 AM
Kristin Longley | Flint Journal
FLINT, Michigan — The threat was clear: Act now on nearly $700,000 in federal grant funds — or risk losing it all.
Faced with that ultimatum from City Administrator Gregory Eason, the Flint City Council on Monday night moved forward on committing the grant funds — some of them to out-of-county vendors — despite having only a couple hours to read and discuss the proposals.
The federal government is threatening to pull the plug on the city’s $4 million neighborhood stabilization grant if the city doesn’t take action on spending it, Eason said.
“Please, pretty please, do not jeopardize this money,” Eason said to the council. “We need to show we can be responsible, we can be timely.”
The city is up against a September 27 deadline to have all $4 million of the grant funds committed to be spent.
Eason
The federal government awarded the money to the city in 2008.Eason told the council he was on the phone with the undersecretary for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Friday and made a commitment that the city council would follow through on the funds.
After a heated discussion with Eason on Monday night, the council approved six contracts totaling about $697,000.
With those contracts approved, Eason said the city now has at least 75 percent of the grant funds allocated and is on track to allocate the rest.
But some city council members weren’t happy about approving large contracts on such short notice.
“Really this bothers me,” Council President Delrico Loyd said. “We can’t act in the best interest of the public if we can’t digest the information.”
Earlier this month, The Journal reported that federal officials wrote a letter to Flint Mayor Dayne Walling to express its concerns that Flint is at risk of not meeting the deadline for committing the neighborhood stabilization funds, which are federal grant dollars awarded to fight foreclosures and redevelop housing.
Because of internal problems in the previous administration’s community and economic development department, Eason said the city was already behind on spending the grant funds when Walling was elected.
“We can’t keep explaining why we can’t spend these dollars,” Eason said. “This is an albatross around our neck.”
The council passed the proposals on a 7-1 vote, with Loyd dissenting.
Council members questioned Eason about some of the larger contracts going to out-of-town vendors, including $250,000 to Saginaw-based nonprofit Circle of Love for homebuyer education and counseling services and $244,916 to Detroit-based Community Improvement Group for program management for the city of Flint.
Eason said HUD approved of those vendors and said Community Improvement Group will be hired to help the city manage the grant funds because the city doesn’t have the internal capacity to do it on its own at this time.
“For what we’re getting from them, we’re getting more than our money’s worth,” Eason said. “This is a company HUD has 100 percent confidence in.”
Audience member Pamela Gerald said the funds should have gone to Flint businesses.
“You keep talking about the Flint economy,” Gerald said. “Why are you pouring it into other cities?” |
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