YOUNGSTOWN Council panel suggests 2nd compliance monitor

The city is at substantial risk if money is misspent by an outside agency.
By ROGER G. SMITH
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The community development director wants help holding accountable the nonprofit social agencies that get city federal funds.
A city council committee obliged Thursday. The community development committee recommended that a second compliance monitor be hired. Members also endorsed a study to establish which agencies aren't handling the money correctly.
The city needs more than the one monitor it has now, said Jay Williams, Community Development Agency director. That was a major weakness he found after a year on the job.
The new job, which will pay about $35,000, will be titled assistant compliance director. The city has saved money for the position, he said. He hopes to fill the job during the first quarter of next year.
Williams hopes eventually to have three or four people in the department. The city is at substantial risk if money is misspent by an outside agency, Williams said.
"If you're operating with a skeleton staff ... it could come back to haunt you," he said.
Managing grants: Williams also said the city needs to know whether the nonprofit agencies it funds can handle their grants. The city will help the agencies manage the money correctly when it can, he said. Agencies that can't manage the money effectively beyond that face being dropped.
The city is at risk if the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development audit finds unstable agencies being funded, Williams said.
"We don't want HUD to find anything we didn't already know," he said.
Other matters: The community development committee also handled these items:
U & raquo;Recommended city council send an additional $100,000 to the Mahoning County Lead Program. The money recently became available from the federal government. The lead program had asked the city for $475,000 in 2001 but received $200,000.
U & raquo;Recommended council direct $30,000 to the North Heights Homes project. The money is the final piece of financing for the project. Ten nonprofit homes for lower-income families will be built on the city's North Side.
rgsmith@vindy.com