$11 Million Grant to Clothe Detroit Job-Seekers Helps 2 people

[Trajan]

lets see= $11 million /400= $27,500 , but they could not even get that right, I mean I have heard of overhead, but at 27,500 and then only helping 2 people?

Classic....





$11 Million Grant to Clothe Detroit Job-Seekers Helps…Two

snip-

A recent audit of the Department of Human Services revealed that an $11 million grant to help clothe low income job-seekers in the city helped two, yes, two people. According to The Detroit News:

Among the most telling findings, which will be discussed today during a City Council committee meeting, is that a third-party contractor advanced $148,000 to a downtown Detroit clothing store and opened an account, but did not include the city on the account.

“It’s just another example that money is not as much of an issue [as] managing the money, whether it’s grant or general fund dollars that we have,” said Council President Pro Tem Gary Brown. “We have to find a better way to manage the resources and give Detroiters the value for the tax dollars they deserve.”

Though the program aimed to help 400 people between July of 2009 and September of 2011, “The DHS was only able to provide the auditors with two referral forms signed by two clients documenting that they received clothing from the boutique.”

CBS notes that applicants were required to have a job interview scheduled to participate, but presumably that’s not such a stringent requirement that only two people were eligible.

Detroit Program to Clothe Job-Seekers Only Helps Two | TheBlaze.com

and

Audit: Part of $11M grant for Detroit job seekers only aided 2 | The Detroit News | detroitnews.com

 

[Wiseacre]

Gawd - what could be more ridiculous than this? Is it any wonder Detroit is going down the tubes?

 

[Jroc]

Gawd - what could be more ridiculous than this? Is it any wonder Detroit is going down the tubes?

Is it any wonder the country is going "down the tubes" The federal government as no business sending out money for this in the first place

 

[TakeAStepBack]

LMAO!

Isn't central planning just grand?

 

[iamwhatiseem]

And many of you want government to be in control of healthcare.
Just keep remembering that

 

[samjones]

lets see= $11 million /400= $27,500 , but they could not even get that right, I mean I have heard of overhead, but at 27,500 and then only helping 2 people?

This is a pretty normal example of how Conservatives have twisted information to suit their agenda.

The article says that part of a fund of 11 million that was earmarked to help clothe job seekers was mismanaged.

Quite possibly true. It mentions 148,000 dollars advanced to help the 400 people (nearly $400 per person, which sound about right to me for a full suit of interview clothes). It mentions that the 148k advance was mismanaged, could be true, but doesn't necessarily say that the money was stolen. For all we know it may be returned with a simply - sorry we didn't do such a great job fulfilling our mission.

Incompetence could certainly be to blame for this mismanagement and their could be some dishonesty in there too, but before judging I would point out that creating a service to benefit the needy seems to be far easier than actually making the needy aware that the service is available in a way that could benefit them. This seems to be a problem in a social service organizations, including those that serve the disabled, elderly and, yes, the poor.

That's no reason to wait for facts before you start spreading inuendo - not for the Detroit News anyway.

 

[TakeAStepBack]

Lol!

 

[Trajan]

lets see= $11 million /400= $27,500 , but they could not even get that right, I mean I have heard of overhead, but at 27,500 and then only helping 2 people?

This is a pretty normal example of how Conservatives have twisted information to suit their agenda.

The article says that part of a fund of 11 million that was earmarked to help clothe job seekers was mismanaged.

Quite possibly true. It mentions 148,000 dollars advanced to help the 400 people (nearly $400 per person, which sound about right to me for a full suit of interview clothes). It mentions that the 148k advance was mismanaged, could be true, but doesn't necessarily say that the money was stolen. For all we know it may be returned with a simply - sorry we didn't do such a great job fulfilling our mission.

Incompetence could certainly be to blame for this mismanagement and their could be some dishonesty in there too, but before judging I would point out that creating a service to benefit the needy seems to be far easier than actually making the needy aware that the service is available in a way that could benefit them. This seems to be a problem in a social service organizations, including those that serve the disabled, elderly and, yes, the poor.

That's no reason to wait for facts before you start spreading inuendo - not for the Detroit News anyway.

well this is a typical explanation I would expect from the left, the result they found was 2 people,hey I'll tell you what, lets bump that by orders of magnitude, I'll give you 400...so, do the math again. A 160K at $400 a pop...out of, 11 Million?

so it takes a grant of 11 million to deliver 200k to the people in need?I mean seriously?
If ANY co. used a burn rate anywhere near that proportion top deliver goods they'd be broke in short order....its simply nuts.

Instated of making excuses for a massive fail, you provide, well excuses, they didn't plan right, they didn't get the word put yada yada yada.....dude,you do realize this is NOT abnormal and its got to stop.

 

[Trajan]

And many of you want government to be in control of healthcare.
Just keep remembering that

do I have to?

 

[American_Jihad]

Detroit may turn out half its street lights to shrink the city

May 25, 2012 By Rick Moran



For want of a streetlight, a city was lost.

Bloomberg:

Detroit, whose 139 square miles contain 60 percent fewer residents than in 1950, will try to nudge them into a smaller living space by eliminating almost half its streetlights.

As it is, 40 percent of the 88,000 streetlights are broken and the city, whose finances are to be overseen by an appointed board, can't afford to fix them. Mayor Dave Bing's plan would create an authority to borrow $160 million to upgrade and reduce the number of streetlights to 46,000. Maintenance would be contracted out, saving the city $10 million a year.

Other U.S. cities have gone partially dark to save money, among them Colorado Springs; Santa Rosa, California; and Rockford, Illinois. Detroit's plan goes further: It would leave sparsely populated swaths unlit in a community of 713,000 that covers more area than Boston, Buffalo and San Francisco combined. Vacant property and parks account for 37 square miles (96 square kilometers), according to city planners.

"You have to identify those neighborhoods where you want to concentrate your population," said Chris Brown, Detroit's chief operating officer. "We're not going to light distressed areas like we light other areas."

Detroit's dwindling income and property-tax revenue have required residents to endure unreliable buses and strained police services throughout the city. Because streetlights are basic to urban life, deciding what areas to illuminate will reshape the city, said Kirk Cheyfitz, co-founder of a project called Detroit143 -- named for the 139 square miles of land, plus water -- that publicizes neighborhood issues.

Read more: Blog: Detroit may turn out half its street lights to shrink the city

Would the last person leaving Detroit please leave one streetlight on?

 

[Sunni Man]

Just one more step by the liberal/progressives goal of making America into the environmentlly friendly N Korean style paradise they so admire.

 

[American_Jihad]

Just one more step by the liberal/progressives goal of making America into the environmentlly friendly N Korean style paradise they so admire.

That's the Utopia they seek...

 

[Nova78]

That idiot in the white house is sure to be behind it ,God help us .....

 

[jasonnfree]

$148,000 is peanuts compared to the 2.3 trillion the pentagon lost, remember? However this money went to help the down and out which just kills conservatives. Now the pentagon? No amount of money is too much even if they lose it. Just send them more.

 

[itfitzme]

well this is a typical explanation I would expect from the left, the result they found was 2 people,hey I'll tell you what, lets bump that by orders of magnitude, I'll give you 400...so, do the math again. A 160K at $400 a pop...out of, 11 Million?

so it takes a grant of $11 million to deliver 200k to the people in need?I mean seriously?
If ANY co. used a burn rate anywhere near that proportion top deliver goods they'd be broke in short order....its simply nuts.

Instated of making excuses for a massive fail, you provide, well excuses, they didn't plan right, they didn't get the word put yada yada yada.....dude,you do realize this is NOT abnormal and its got to stop.

It is the typical response I'd expect from an idiot. Are you really this stupid?

It isn't 11 million to deliver 200. It is 148k for clothing. The other $10.852 million is for other shit. We don't know what the other shit is because none of the articles say.

But, we can get a general idea. The DHS - Department of Human Services does a host of services, including food stamps, cash assistance, medicaid, child care, foster care, medical services, abuse and neglect services, and much more. Like most health and human service organizations, they are mostly focused on helping children.

You don't have a problem with helping little children, do you?

The 148k was meant to put $370 worth of cloths on the backs of 400 job seekers.

$740 worth of cloths were actually purchased. This means that $147,260 will be returned or someone will go to jail.

That was on May 7th, that the audit results were presented published. The government does this all the time, audits itself and published the results. The really funny thing is when the local new organization presents a report that implied they discovered something. They do that in Sacramento all the time. The California State Auditors Office publishes discoveries of audits all the time and the local news station reports how they have found out.....

So, of $11 million in grant money, $147,260 must be returned. That would be 1.3% of the funds that didn't reach their goal.

Total program cost, $750.

So, what "massive fail" are you talking about? Oh, none.

Oh, what is it that has "got to stop'? Government auditing itself and publishing the results?

Yes, you really are this stupid. I mean, seriously?

-----

Still, I think it could be done cheaper. Every job seeker does not need a $370 suit. The cloths you wear to the interview are typically the cloths you will wear on the job. If your interviewing with a grocery store, slacks, shirt and tie. If your interviewing for a manufacturing position, jeans and a shirt. If your interviewing for a manufacturing engineering position, it's tan slacks, a plaid shirt and a plain tie. Never wear a better or more expensive suit then the person your interviewing with.

So, in my opinion, that $750 could have been better spent at $75 a piece on ten people at Target or $10 a piece on 75 people at St. Vincent De Pauls.

 

[itfitzme]

The original report came out in March.

Audit: Funds To Help 400 Job Seekers Aided Only 2 « CBS Detroit

According to one city employee, the personal service contractor purchased clothing from Broadway clothing store in downtown Detroit, who has since refunded the $148,000 spent with the store to the department. It was unclear whether the amount was returned during or after the audit and neither the owner, Richard Pepper, or manager could be contacted for this article.

Against grant guidelines, DHS advanced the $148,000 to the personal service contractor. Grant guidelines called for reimbursement.

The $148,100 was the only transaction amount mentioned in the audit in connection with the clothing store.

The audit noted that Broadway opened an interest-bearing account in its name and deposited the $148,100 in the account. “The city was not included as an owner of the account,” the audit states. “As of August 31, 2011, the account had a $148,358.62 balance.”

So, that would be a $258.62 in interest gained.

So, of $11 million in federal grant money received by the DHS in 2009, they gained $258.62 dollars in interest from one $148,100 sub-program.

It is a grant. All money not used must be returned. It's a grant. And while there are plenty of instances of school districts and government agencies, especially the military, buying office furniture that they don't need to makes sure they show a budget and get the same money next year, they still have to show actual purchases.

That someone would find

"$11 million /400= $27,500 , but they could not even get that right, I mean I have heard of overhead, but at 27,500 and then only helping 2 people?"

in any way plausible makes it perfectly clear how completely out of touch with reality they are.

So let's see what we have for out of touch with reality folks here;

Trajan
Wiseacre (though he's not always, perhaps just a mental slip)
Jroc
TakeAStepBack (no surprise there)
iamwhatiseem
Nova78

Really, not one of you folks thought to yourself, "Now that just doesn't make sense"?

Not much in terms of critical thinking here. And I assume we are looking at the results of American education ending a decade or so ago. No wonder America is in such bad straights. We have a population of idiots.

Canadians, reading this forum, are falling out of their chairs laughing hysterically. "What a bunch of American idiots, eh!"

Come on guys, stop and think. Shit happens but we didn't spent $11 million to cloth two people. Fuck. I'm embarrassed to be part of the same species as you all. If we were visited by intelligent life from another planet, I'd put on one of those Halloween animal noses and claim to be related to the feline species.