"Some Mecklenburg County Commissioners raised questions about a grant for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police aimed at helping young people transition out of gangs.
The commissioners wanted to know why four months after the center housing the program opened its doors, the program itself has not started.
CMPD Chief Monroe at the June 2011 ribbon cutting for the Greenville Center.
"It has taken a little longer to get the program up and running than anticipated," County Commission Chairperson Jennifer Roberts said of the Gang of One Culinary Arts program."
Whoa really a "little longer"?
CMPD received a federal grant of $340,000.00 to reopen the shuttered Greenville rec center on Spring Street in January of 2011. But the program to help teens learn job culinary skills hasn't started yet, in fact the only thing that has happened is the spending of the money.
WSOC's report says CMPD has spent $255,000.00 of the grant on transportation, job trainers and a "center coordinator".
The most important piece of the program it seems would be a kitchen. But the center doesn't have a functional kitchen.
According to WSOC "They said the kitchen needs serious upgrades and that an architecture firm has been working on plans since June."
CMPD Major John Diggs added: "As far as the kitchen being built, that's just not a snap your fingers and be done overnight thing," Diggs said.
Roberts said police have updated her and she's satisfied with their response.
"I think the message has gotten through and I think they're going to do everything they can to make sure that it happens quickly now," she said.
And CMPD says that the program will be up and running by next spring. WSOC's full report is here.
Cedar's Take: I am just amazed that Commissioner Roberts thinks this is acceptable. As far as Diggs he's an idiot. I could have opened the doors and had the program up and running inside of six weeks.
This of course is just one grant, Rodney Monroe's trail of grant spending troubles leads from Charlotte to Richmond and all the way back to Macon, Georgia.
There's this from last year:
A couple of sources tell Cedar Posts that Charlotte's Police Chief has been served a Federal Subpoena in the Macon Georgia Police Department investigation and how the department handled a federal grant. Keep in mind that Monroe left Macon in 2005.
That same year a Macon city councilman was at the center of a federal probe into how he funded some of his local youth programs and why he cashed grant checks at a liquor store.
Macon Police Chief Rodney Monroe confirmed the FBI has been investigating for eight months whether Charles Dudley improperly spent $2,000 in checks made out to the Unionville Improvement Association, a nonprofit organization that spearheads various community projects. Monroe declined to comment further, citing a "gag order."
Then there is this 2008 story "Macon's Handling of Federal Grant In Question" from the Macon Telegraph:
The U.S. Department of Justice has warned it could sue the city of Macon for more than $1 million for allegedly misusing money from a federal grant and making false claims about how the money was spent.
The program was operated by the police department under then-Police Chief Rodney Monroe, who left Macon to become chief of police in Richmond, Va. Monroe did not return Telegraph calls Monday, and he has not returned Telegraph calls seeking comment about this grant and the subsequent investigations since he moved to Richmond. He is now a finalist to be Charlotte, N.C.'s police chief, according to a report on the Richmond Times-Dispatch's Web site Monday.
CMPD receives hundreds of thousands of dollars in Federal Grants. If the oversight is left up to people like Commissioner Roberts the citizens of Charlotte are going to get a raw deal.
Cedar's Bonus:
I'm sure you think CMPD's "Gang of One" is a great and much needs program. The idea of a police department providing an alternative to gangs is commendable. But as the department's pathetic website illustrates it is nothing more than your tax dollars flushed down a hole in the ground.
Cedar Posts Update: The WSOC story is a follow-up of the story Mark Pellin posted to Pundit House back on October 20th. That story is here.
16 comments:
Nice to see WSOC is still following-up on PunditHouse, which broke the story about a week ago; just sayin'
Go Mark & Cedar! It is about time we have SOME accountability. Too bad we can't get it from out City and County leaders though.
out = our (sorry)
Come on, does this really surprise anyone?
Trust me, this is really just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to misspent, misappropriated and disppearing money At CMPD with it's virtually NO oversight and No line item budgets, ever.
Really, CMPD can't up fit a kitchen in a timely manner, but the can up fit CMPD headquarters/"executive offices" TWICE in a timely manner?
I would be willing to bet that money is long gone, and now Rodney is scrambling to find other funds to cover it.
OMG, when is someone, anyone, going to stop what he is doing??
Wonder how much they are paying the "architect"' and who is that architect, and just how long has he been working on plans for one little kitchen?
Hope he is not being paid by the hour !!
I just can't accept that every elected member of council and commission is so stupid as to allow this sort of thing to happen. So I am left to think they must be getting a kickback of some sort.
that's what happens when it is reported to them over and over and they won't take any action to investigate...
the appearance of corruption from top all around
it will probably culminate with all the cameras shining at DNC2012 and ruin Charlotte for business--and so for every person--for years to come.
It is bullshit like this that the OWS people should be protesting.
This crap is crazy, wasting taxpayers money so RoMo can hire some of his family to run the center.
RoMo own personal welfare for his scum sucking kind.
Check out citynewswatch today.....seems like Monroe has a real fondness for companies with Richmond ties. I wonder how many local, Charlotte companies he will use for the DNC, and how many will have Richmond and DC ties?
If they are even keeping any records, it would be interesting to know.
Seems like everything gets back to Rchmond when it comes to Monroe's preferences for hiring and giving jobs to.
Anon 2:26
The "kickback" they are getting is the African American
vote.
Much as I hate to say this, if he were a white Chief pulling this same corrupt stuff, he would be out of a job.
He is corrupt, and he has created a corrupt Police Department.
Let's see how many Comission and Council members will be denying they knew anything was going on when people are going to jail.
I have heard there is something coming involving Graue, Medlock and Zinkann that will show just what fabricating, backstabbers they are.
When you live your life using your positions to screw people over, to set people up, to try to destroy professional lives, to spread lies, and you think people won't discover the real you, you are really out of touch with reality.
Seems these three are leaving a trail of destruction everywhere they go.
When the corruptness is exposed many, many people that have had their lives destroyed will maybe get some satisfaction. And all those that have hitched their wagons to these losers will be seen for what they are, too.
Nothing that Medlock, Graue or Zinkann have done would surprise anyone.
Everyone knows they have no integrity and would throw a family member under the bus to cover their asses.
But this is the caliber of people that Romo has chosen to surround himself with, like minded people.
You have to wonder if all of them will continue to lie and cover for each other when it becomes apparent that federal court is in their future?
WSOC, WCNC, and News14 are all complete whores for the Uptown crowd, whores which have lifted stories non-stop from local CLT Web sites without attribution in order to "blunt" or kill them. Or maybe because they are just that effing lazy and their news directors that completely arrogant and incompetent.
The book on CLT's descent into a 3rd World hellhole will have to include several chapters on the local quisling media. Everyday you guys and gals sell your souls -- and what do you have to show for it?
Sleep tight.
Right you are, Jeff.
Cedar posts and Citynewswatch do all of the legwork and the local "media" do not bother to investigate or follow up.
These two Blogs have done more to uncover the corruption at CMPD than ANY other source in Charlotte.
What is preventing local " news" outlets from covering these stories? Is it political, is it monetary? Or are they truly too afraid or lazy??
There is no excuse for them to continue to ignore the gross corruption taking pace beneath their very noses.
Where is their outrage, their history of uncovering and reporting on corruption? Their conscience?
Thank goodness for these two Blogs, they are putting in print what is going on.
For all his "they live in a moral sewer" bullshit, anybody want to go reckon why Bill James doesn't have the stones to ask the tough questions about the negro leadership in question here?
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