19 May, 2011
Detroit Mayor Bing suspends employees in furniture misspending, pledges …
Posted by: admin In: furniture
Wednesday was just the beginning.
Promising sweeping changes to crack down on decades of corruption, Detroit Mayor Dave Bing suspended the director and several staff members from the city’s beleaguered Human Services Department, while announcing new fiscal safeguards after the Free Press revealed the agency’s misuse of federal grants.
Bing said he is recommending the termination of the employees after his office ends its investigation into the mismanagement of federal grant money at the department, which distributes millions for services for struggling Detroiters.
Also, starting immediately, Bing is requiring all grant expenditures to go through the Finance Department, which will be retooled to provide better oversight.
“It is important to this administration, to this city and to the indigent population that we act immediately to right the wrongs,” Bing said.
The Free Press revealed last week that the Human Services Department spent more than $200,000 on furniture last year from money that was supposed to help poor people.
Bing pledges more oversight in wake of misspending probe
Residents on Grandy, a hardscrabble street on Detroit’s east side, cheered Wednesday as rumors circulated that their neighbor, the city’s Human Services Department, was under investigation.
Standing in her fenced-in front yard, Yvonne Williams, who is unemployed and relies on the department for assistance, said she and others were alarmed last fall when high-end furniture arrived at the department’s building, while services for struggling Detroiters were being cut.
“We’re wondering, ‘What’s really going on?’ ” Williams, 50, said. “Where’s the money going? If it’s for the poor, keep it for the poor.”
Inside the building at 5031 Grandy on Wednesday, Mayor Dave Bing announced the suspension of the director and other officials at the department as part of a citywide crackdown on corruption.
Free Press reports starts probe
Bing’s office learned about misspending at the department after the Free Press reported last week that the agency spent more than $200,000 on furniture that was supposed to be used to hire staff to run a food and clothing bank.
“This issue made it clear that additional protective measures are necessary to prevent further abuse,” Bing said. “We’re also making changes to the scope of grant-management contracts to ensure accountability and transparency and the appropriate use of the funds.”
During the ongoing investigation, the mayor said other apparent abuses of tax dollars have emerged. He declined further comment until the probe is complete.
The mismanagement underscores the challenges facing a mayor promising to reform a city long mired in scandals.
Announcing an added layer of financial oversight, Bing said all grant expenditures now must be approved by the Finance Department. Previously, each department approved and managed its own grants with little oversight.
While the investigation continues, Bing said his office would control the Human Services Department.
Three federal audits last year revealed that the department mismanaged more than a dozen federal grants worth more than $100 million — all of which were to help poor people and children — and lacked the appropriate oversight.
More grant mishandling alleged
And on Tuesday, the city’s Planning and Economic director, Robert Anderson, a Bing appointee, accused the city of mishandling more than $25 million in federal housing grants.
The $210,000 spent on furniture came from a $1.2-million grant that the department awarded — without bids — to the nonprofit Clark Associates to cover the payroll and administrative costs of hiring employees for the food and clothing banks.
That misspending would have been prevented under the new safeguards, Bing said.
Human Services Director Shenetta Coleman, appointed by ex-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, couldn’t be reached for comment. About an hour before the news conference, police escorted her from the building.
The city declined to disclose the number and names of the other suspended officials.
Bing said he plans to recommend the termination of the employees after the investigation ends.
Union questions actions
A union leader, who brought the misspending to the attention of the council, questioned the sincerity of Bing’s investigation, saying nothing was done last year when audits first revealed mismanagement at the department.
“These suspensions represent a good, but long-overdue step toward addressing the structural deficiencies within his own management team,” said Greg Murray, vice president and administrative representative of the Senior Accountants Analysis and Appraisers Association.
“Mayor Bing retained the majority of the previous administration’s managers. Maybe this is what it takes for him to finally purge his administration of a culture of bad management that is bringing this city down,” Murray said.
On Wednesday, a Detroit City Council committee investigating the department declined an opportunity to question leaders at the Human Services Department about the misspending, saying an investigation by the council’s legal division is still incomplete.
“I would rather us do it all at once, rather than piecemeal,” Councilman James Tate said, adding he has many questions for the department.
Contact Steve Neavling: sneavling@freepress.com
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