East Cleburne Community Center Grant Funds Diverted by City |
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East Cleburne Community Center Grant Funds Diverted by CityBackground: The East Cleburne Community Center has for many years provided a wide range of totally free services and activities for low income residents, especially youth. It is run by and staffed by volunteers, with the exception of one paid employee who just started, the program director, who makes $10 per hour. Many others contribute their time, talent, and donations. For a list of ECCC's services to the community, see ECCC Activities Congressman Chet Edwards obtained a half a million dollar grant specifically for the East Cleburne Community Center. The City spent the money on the Booker T Washington building and now plans to charge ECCC rent for rooms and the people who use it a usage fee. In other words, the city used ECCC's record of service and its good name to obtain the grant and then left ECCC out in the cold. The mayor and others have made big noises about sponsoring scholarships for youth. I'll have to see it to believe it. I remember when the mayor promised some kind of fee reduction or low-cost pass to the Splash Station for low income residents. It didn't happen. It was never even brought before the City Council. So much for the mayor's promises. The mayor made this promise to us personally after we complained that the city had spent much more than the voters authorized on the Splash Station, set a $5 per swim admission fee, and then to boost revenue closed the Carver Park pool. This effectively shut low income residents out of the Splash Station and took away their opportunity to cool off in a pool during hot summer days. Now East Cleburne Community Center is being priced out so they cannot afford to use the Booker T Washington building. The fact that the money was meant for the East Cleburne Community Center is clearly spelled out on Congressman Chet Edwards website at http://edwards.house.gov/html/content.cfm?id=271 It specifically says the grant was for ECCC's use. We quote from the website: Constructing a new Community Center for East Cleburne We have also heard persistent rumors that the city is considering hiring Councilman John Warren as director of the Booker T Washington facility. To our knowledge Mr. Warren has not even been active in the ECCC. The current team of volunteers have done just fine with ECCC. Is this just more politics as usual - trading favors, backslapping, etc? We are so incensed that we have written a letter to Congressman Chet Edwards, the Mayor of Cleburne, the Assistant City Manager, and the Government Accounting Office Department of Fraud. Here's what we wrote: March 18, 2009 Subject: East Cleburne Community Center Grant Funds Diverted by City of Cleburne Representative Chet Edwards: Thank you for serving. I would like to call your attention to what I consider a misuse of federal funds by the City of Cleburne . The East Cleburne Community Center (ECCC) is a group that does a tremendous amount of good for residents of all ages but especially for low income youth. About two years ago you obtained a half a million dollar federal grant for improvements at ECCC. The city latched on to the money and diverted it to the Booker T. Washington Recreation Center, which is also in East Cleburne . Now the Booker T. Washington center is opening and we find the city has left ECCC out in the cold. ECCC does have a very small office in the new building, but they are expected to pay rent on the rooms used and an admission fee for all users. The rent ranges from $10 to $30 per hour per room. ECCC has continuous programs for groups from youth to senior citizens. That means they would have to pay rent on multiple rooms every day. They simply do not have the money to do that. Fees are listed in this March 12 article in the Cleburne Times Review. http://www.cleburnetimesreview.com/archivesearch/local_story_071144730.html The per-person use fee originally considered was $2 for a day pass. With 60-70 youth, many from low income families, that was not possible. The city finally settled on a $5 per year pass for students 15 years and under. As you may know, the Cleburne voters approved a one-half percent 4B sales tax in 2001. To gain voter approval, the city promised seven quality-of-life projects. A new ECCC building was one of them. The then-chairman of the 4B Committee (the present Mayor of Cleburne, Ted Reynolds) promised that the ECCC would be top priority. Taxpayers were told that the new ECCC building would help ECCC continue its existing great programs and provide an environment conducive to expansion. The city went back on all promises once voters approved the 4B tax. First, ECCC took back seat to most of the projects. Second, the groups for each of the seven projects were told that their projects would begin very soon. Eight years later, the project that took the place of ECCC is just finishing. Two projects are just starting, and one has not even started. At the time you got the federal grant for ECCC we were told it was largely because of the ongoing programs at ECCC. We were led to believe that the grant would help get a new ECCC facility built quicker than without it. It turns out there is no new ECCC building, either new or remodeled. There is a new Booker T Washington facility, which is simply a tool to stroke the egos of the local politicians. They can point to it and say “See what we did for East Cleburne .” In truth, it is a facility priced out of range of those serviced by ECCC. I ask you to use your influence to convince the city to really do something for ECCC. I would suggest that the city give the half million dollars to ECCC to use for rent and admissions at the Booker T. Washington center. An alternative would be for the city to spend the half million dollars on renovation and improvement of the part of the old Santa Fe school building now being used by ECCC. Please help do something for ECCC and the people they serve. Thank you, Alden Nellis cc: Mayor Ted Reynolds (mayor@cleburne.net) |