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At
Last Minute, Shelter Denied Federal Funding for Code Violations
Lawmakers upset
that problems weren’t detected during original inspection
By
Allison Jean Eaton
Bulletin
Staff Writer
COMPTON – City
staffers again came under fire late last month, this time because
federal funding had to be diverted from a battered women’s
shelter due to building and code violations that went unnoticed during
initial inspections.
A second women and children’s shelter was also stripped of funding
for unspecified reasons.
During a July 29 mandatory public hearing, the City Council discussed
the proposed dispersion of the city’s 2008-09 allotment of HUD funds.
HUD mandates such hearings be held to allow public comment on the city’s
Annual Action Plan, which must be submitted to the federal government for
final approval of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Investment
Partnership (HOME) and Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG) funding recipients.
That hearing was originally slated for July 15, but was continued
twice to July 29 apparently due to problems later discovered with two organizations
slated to receive ESG funding. Funds slated for the organizations were
reallocated at the last minute.
Councilman Isadore Hall emphasized the fact that city staffers swore
all facilities slated to receive funding would be thoroughly inspected
to ensure they met the federal government’s requirements. He told
The Bulletin that during a “very heated discussion” with city
staff, he was told they “had a handle on it.”
But according to a July 28 internal memo obtained by The Bulletin,
they didn’t.
In that memo, City Manager Charles Evans informed the mayor and council
members that the Building and Safety Department conducted a second inspection
of the Peace and Joy battered women’s shelter on July 14.
That inspection resulted from concerns raised by Councilwoman Yvonne
Arceneaux following a recent article in a local daily newspaper citing
gross negligence and unsafe conditions at Peace and Joy’s Carson
facility and the potential involvement of Supervisor Yvonne B. Burke’s
office in the facility’s continued funding despite the problems.
During the July 14 visit by city staffers at Peace and Joy’s Compton
facility, the Acacia Avenue care center was found to be in violation of
a number of city codes in addition to featuring an illegally converted
garage.
According to Evans, city inspectors overlooked the city’s code requirements
when ensuring the facility met HUD’s requirements.
“There are a number of criteria involved in making determinations
for funding, and I would say that we overlooked our own criteria
to deal with this particular issue,” Evans said.
A July 17 inspection report details the following requisite corrections
at Peace and Joy cited by Inspector Charles Scott that initial inspectors
missed: install a ground-fault circuit interrupter electrical outlet within
3 feet of the bathroom sink, repair tub overflow drain cover, install drain
screen in upstairs bathroom sink, replace all missing window screens, repair
loose vinyl floor covering and switch all exterior door locks to locks
that are keyless from the interior of the building.
These issues were in addition to the illegal conversion.
According to the report: “There is an existing permit on file for
a two-car garage that had been torn down. There is substantial evidence
that the structure has always been a garage back to the year 1992. There
is no evidence of a permit to convert this garage into living quarters.”
Peace and Joy staffers at the Acacia site would not speak with The
Bulletin and directed all inquiries to the organization’s main headquarters
in Carson. Calls to speak with those in charge were not returned.
Estella DuBose, grants coordinator for the Planning and Economic
Development Department, said inspections conducted on July 2 did not turn
up any red flags. But she admitted she never saw any documents relative
to the inspections; she was merely told the site visits had been completed
and that the facility met federal guidelines.
“We (the Council) would not be placed in this position if an appropriate
inspection would have taken place,” Hall said. “This is one
of the times that I don’t think the Council should be placed in this
position. There are checks and balances in place, a system that would
keep it from getting to us by way of staff doing the work they are paid
to do.
And, I’m just wondering, how is it then that here we are just two
months later, and we have such gross repairs and items on a report
of a facility that staff missed, apparently during their initial inspections?”
“The Building and Safety Department did find that it met the minimum
housing quality standards as set forth by HUD, so on July 2 (when
the initial inspection took place) they would have still found that that
shelter was
fine,” DuBose said.
She added that ESG funds are administered through the Community Redevelopment
Agency and that the department has a separate process for selection and
monitoring of recipients.
“We’ve had a lot of problems with the Community Development
Block Grant program,” Hall said. “And I was told by the city
manager six months ago that those problems were rectified. And I’m
seeing now that we still have some issues.”
“It is an after-the-fact situation,” Evans said. “The
only thing I can assure you is that this will be thoroughly looked at,
and we will
make sure this does not happen again next year.”
Mayor Eric J. Perrodin blamed the situation on a lack of communication
between departments, an issue he and other council members have publicly
discussed on more than one occasion over the past several years.
“This is something we’ve been dealing with in the city of Compton
for as long as I know: lack of communication,” Perrodin said. “We
need to change that. Examples are coming up now, and council people
are going to put you on the carpet for it. That’s just the way it
is. We’re birthing a new Compton, not an old Compton.”
City staffer and resident Lynn Boone said she and several friends
have called the City Manager’s office to complain about the various
shelters in town, but “nothing has ever been done.”
“As far as the (condition of the) shelters, it’s been known,” she
said.
Peace and Joy was slated to receive $23,000. Another organization,
the Creative Learning Institute, was also stripped of funding. It would
have received $22,000.
The sum, $45,000, was reprogrammed to remaining ESG-eligible organizations.
The Compton Welfare Rights Organization, which was initially to receive
$27,000, will receive $49,500. Miss Essie’s House of Faith, which
would have received $19,355, will receive $41,855.
ESG funds for this year total $91,355.
DuBose told The Bulletin that she is unaware of the specifics related
to the pulling of funding for the institute.
“I was told that it was going to be taken off,” she said. “It’s
obviously something, but I don’t want to speculate.”
Twelve local public-service providers and a city-run public service
project will receive a total of $308,805 in CDBG funds in 2008-09. Another
$1.3 million in CDBG funds will be used for non-public-service ventures,
including sidewalk- and façade-improvement programs and code enforcement.
CDBG planning and administration activities will receive $411,793.
CDBG funds for this year total $2,058,966.
HOME funds totaling $781,100 will be used to administer the program
and augment the First Time Homebuyer’s program and Community Housing
Development Organization.
Overall, the city is slated to receive a total of $2.9 million from
HUD this fiscal year.
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