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Margate Grants: the needy, the greedy, the connected
• Oversight at Margate Grants Office severely lacking
Monday,
November 16, 2009
Every year for the past few years, the City of Margate receives ‘Free Money’ in the form of grants that trickle down to the city from State and Federal housing programs designed to foster low income housing initiatives in Margate. Once approved, the money is managed by ‘New Community Strategies’ (NCS) a third-party services provider chosen by city officials to administer grant programs in the City of Margate.
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Grant Awards Out of Control
According to Broward County Public Records, Kam Kam Sun at 6190 Royal Palm Blvd. received $60,741 in SHIP (State Housing Initiatives Partnership) Grant Money – an excess of $30,000 over the maximum award set by the state’s housing delivery goal charts. (See copy of public record under Files to the right.)
Also found in public records were Margate residents who were awarded a combination of grants totaling between $30,000 and $80,000 for hurricane windows, new kitchens and bathrooms, as well as a homeowner who received two grants inside a period of time when others waited on a list for theirs.
Case in Point
After Carole Grey of 651 NW 76th Terrace in Margate (according to public records), received a SHIP grant for $20K, another SHIP Grant for $9,200 and a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) in the amount of $19,300 – grants totaling $48,600 (see spreadsheet under ‘Files’) – she was awarded yet another $30,000 in Disaster Recovery Initiatives (DRI) money. In total, Grey received $78,600 in free taxpayer money, compliments of the Margate Grants Office.
The condo where Grey lives is located in Oriole Gardens, a private 55 and older community where condominium worth is assessed at about 50% below Grey’s total grant award.
Furthermore, Clementine Harris, residing at 1050 Country Club Drive, received a total $66,901 in total grant monies for a condominium assessed at little more than $37,000. According to work commencement documents filed with the County (which are required for all permitted work), Harris’ one-bedroom / one-bath condo was awarded new windows, a new door and bathroom fixtures. The price tag of $66K seems a bit high for this, especially since $30K was DRI assistance money, which brings into question Margate Grants Office oversight of approved contractors.
The condo where Harris lives is located in the Oriole Golf & Tennis club, a private housing complex not recognized for low-income tenants and one where in fact background checks are done prior to closing to ensure that tenants can afford the club’s exorbitant maintenance fees for the property.
Most of you don’t qualify, or do you?
Most residents in Margate don’t qualify for these grants, and need to save hard-earned cash to get hurricane windows, Kohler fixtures and granite countertops similar to the ones installed in many of these grant homes. If you’re single and make $33K a year or less; you qualify, If you’re single and make $40K a year; you don’t – so although the income discrepancy is only $7K a year, the former is granted access to up to $80K in free money to upgrade their home as long as they live there for at least seven years before selling it (View household size / income requirements).
But some Margate grant homes were sold inside of seven-years, and with no indication that the pro-rata share of the grant monies they received were paid back to the city as required by grant guidelines.
In addition, there are indications in public records that certain homeowners had paid off their mortgages quickly after receiving Margate grants to remodel them. MargateNews.net uncovered homeowners who not only received grant monies to fix their roofs, but also received insurance money to make the same repair.
NCS a Failure
Mary Dunning from NCS failed to return inquiries from MargateNews.net regarding these public records or discrepancies thereof. In fact, MargateNews.net was told by the city that the ‘who and how much’ with regards to grant recipients in Margate was confidential information, as privacy issues are at stake. This response came after MargateNews.net had already acquired the information through public channels, which reflects badly on NCS’s ability to cooperate openly with the general public.
A recent meeting I attended by the Margate Grants Advisory Board was discouraging. Dunning’s kids were running around City Chambers uncontrollably and residents in attendance were appalled at the level of unprofessionalism. When residents did ask questions, Dunning seemed rushed to get out the door and to wherever she had to go next.
Yet another contract awarded to NCS
In September, Margate City officials recently approved another contract for NCS, this time for administering more than $2 million in Disaster Recovery Initiative (DRI) assistance. The contract pays NCS 9.5% of the total grant -- or more than $200,000 to NCS to administer the program. Public records indicate that an RFP was initiated to attract other vendors, but NCS prevailed.
In a county fraught with decades of cronyism, it’s tough to ignore the possibly that city officials (Director of Finance, Purchasing Manager and Assistant City Manager) and others charged with rating and determining third-party grant service providers for Margate may be good friends or long-time acquaintances of Dunning and NCS President Irving Rosenbaum, say sources, and might not possess the needed objectivity to approve the company as a qualified vendor.
Rosenbaum is well-connected politically and in charity circles. He sits on the board of Women’s in Distress, a bloated, high-profile social charity which named Rothstein, Rosenfeldt and Adler “Corporate Citizen of the Year” in 2009 -- just months prior to Scott Rothstein going down for his billion-dollar Ponzi scheme, swindling well-intentioned investors and disgracing his associates.
Regardless, on September 23, all five of our city commissioners approved the NCS contract unanimously, no questions asked. Not even inquiring as to whether the administration rate of $204,000 (9.5%) might be too steep in these down times, or to even consider the idea that it may be prudent for the city to employ a grant writer of its own, freeing up an additional $100,000 in DRI assistance for residents. Margate Mayor, Arthur Bross, benefits directly from NCS’s services, as a number of units within his Holiday Springs condominium complex have been awarded maximum grants that meet or exceed assessed property values.
In all practicality, NCS doesn’t appear to be a qualified vendor, especially when considering the company’s exorbitant 9.5% fee to administer a grant program the infrastructure of which is already set in place, and NCS’s proven inability to oversee grant programs with a modicum of efficiency.
City tells residents taxpayer money is safe
At a September 23, City Commission meeting, City Manager, Frank Porcella assured Margate residents that tax-payer dollars were not being mismanaged (referring to a MargateNews.net article entitled Margate may be mismanaging taxpayer dollars).
Commissioner Pam Donovan expressed concern at the meeting as to whether finances could be misappropriated without city management knowing. Porcella assured Donovan of no such findings. In this case, the managing of grant monies as seen here is either condoned by city officials or no one is looking – both scenarios seemingly unacceptable by taxpayer standards.
Grants are taxpayer money too
CDBG and SHIP and DRI Grant money is taxpayer money garnered at the state and federal level. How our city officials manage this money is a just as important as how city officials manage our property taxes. If the NCS debacle is indicative of a city that manages its finances well, then we need not only new commissioners, but new city management as well.
A rather disturbing point is that without even questioning the company’s lowly past performance (as indicated by public records) or NCS’s inability to follow state and federal guidelines, city officials in Margate approved paying NCS more than $200,000.
Click on the spreadsheets and public records to the right of the page for further information and support of the facts included in this article.
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