The Trenton Times published the following article on October 29, 2013. To read the full article, click here.
Trenton council votes to take corrective action after misuse of federal funds
By Jenna Pizzi/The Times of Trenton
on October 29, 2013 at 7:20 PMTRENTON — City council will send a letter to Mayor Tony Mack and the state Department of Community Affairs regarding corrective action for the misuse of federal funds, council members said today.
The council voted Monday night to send the letter following two closed-door sessions on Friday and Monday that were called to discuss employee positions paid for with Community Development Block Grant funds provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
City officials refused to give further details. Business administrator Sam Hutchinson, who served as an attorney for HUD in Washington, D.C. for more than 20 years before getting the city job last year, did not return a message seeking comment.
CDBG money may be used to pay for specifically designated projects such as park construction and grant funding for local organizations that build housing, fight homelessness and provide job training for teens, among other efforts.
The salaries for 10 employees in two city departments, Housing and Economic Development and Health and Human Services, are partially or completely funded by CDBG. But paying employees who are not doing work that falls under the program’s purview could violate the terms of the federal grants and require the city to reimburse misused money with other funds.