With no other option, the City Council voted 5-0 Thursday night to repay $18,006 out of the general fund to the state Department of Parks and Recreation after City Administrator Dale Neiman said the city could not account for the funds.

Between 2004 and 2006 the city received $38,878 from the state to repair the city’s youth center, The Hot Spot, Neiman reported. The total grant for the center was about $44,000.

Neiman said the state audits the grants. In reviewing the funds neither the state nor the city could find adequate documentation for how $6,049 was spent; another $11,957 was completely unaccounted for, he explained.

That leaves $21,570 for the youth center. Neiman said the city might have to pay back more money if the state continues to find discrepancies in the audit.

The grant’s terms required that The Hot Spot must be operated for 10 years as a youth center – and maintained in an acceptable manner, according to Neiman. If the center isn’t open and kept in good condition, the city would have to return another $20,872 – the amount of grant funds that the city was able to justify.

Neiman suggested using the remaining $21,570 as seed money to build a new skate park facility.

City Councilman Roy Simons said the inability to account for the money “smacks of gross negligence” or corruption.

He asked if a criminal investigation had been undertaken. Neiman said no.

Councilmember Joyce Overton said she supports the skate park but she was opposed to taking money from The Hot Spot to build a new park.

There are negotiations under way to expand the youth center to Lakeport and Middletown, so the center is working, she said.

However, she said The Hot Spot needs a new floor, new roof, gutters and much more.

“This money really was for the youth center and I think it should stay there,” Overton said.

Ronda Mottlow, one of the adult co-chairs of the skate park committee, said they would love to have a new park but she also supported the youth center, which has sponsored the skate park committee’s meetings.

Councilmember Judy Thein asked how many years the city was into the 10-year lifespan of the youth center; Neiman said he was unsure.

He said the state has come to make several inspections of the facility; during a few of those visits the state found the youth center wasn't open.

Thein asked if the city should spell these requirements out in the youth center’s lease. Neiman said they should but the current lease has expired.

“This is a hard choice here,” said Thein. “We need to support our youth one way or the other but we need to protect the city also.”

Overton said it was time the city invested in its youth. Otherwise, gangs and graffiti would worsen, she said.

Neiman agreed, suggesting in the long term the city should develop a parks and recreation program.

Mayor Curt Giambruno said he knew $8,000 of the grant had been spent on a basketball court for city youth.

Giambruno attributed the city’s inability to account for the funding to a previous administration and council, adding that they needed Neiman to help the council sort out the issue and make a plan going forward.

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Clueless in Clearlake
written by kd006, January 25, 2008

All around the mulberry bush
The monkey chased the weasel.
The monkey thought 'twas all in fun.
Pop! goes the weasel.

A penny for a spool of thread,
A penny for a needle.
That's the way the money goes.
Pop! goes the weasel.

Up and down the City Road,
In and out of the Eagle,
That's the way the money goes.
Pop! goes the weasel.

Half a pound of tuppenney rice,
Half a pound of treacle,
Mix it up and make it nice,
Pop! goes the weasel.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/All_Around_the_Mulberry_Bush"

I don't know whether to laugh or cry reading this article. The finger pointing at "past administration" did cause me to convulse a bit since most of the "present administration" was part of the past one too. Of course they will ultimatly point the finger at our past city adminstrator David Lane and whoever else left in that exodus from the then sinking ship. Kind of makes you wonder when you hear all these plans for a new road department, creative money laundering between the city and redevelopment agency and all the other schemes our leaders dream up.

Well keep plugging the holes, keep bailing like mad but the truth is the worms got to the timbers a long time ago. The rats aren't so stupid after all!

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deja vu again-and again!
written by smurf, January 25, 2008

$18 k missing and nobody can figure where it went? Was that in it's own account, and who had access? No criminal investigation when $18 k is gone? What's the point where they take a real interest in finding out what happened, $25 K-$50 K ?

Does anyone over there know what an audit is? And who was in charge of spending this money, Neiman? Whoever it is they should be fired, but they won't because it's easier to just cut a check and move on.

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If I am
written by superstarr60, January 25, 2008

to undertand this news release correctly, because there was a previous coucil who didn't watch the Cookie Jar attendant close enough when all of some of these Cookies disappeared and now I can't account for the Cookies which are no longer there - The Cookie Jar attendant from a previous council gets a PASS and are total Exempt from being accountable for the Missing Cookies, :lol:
What is wrong with this picture?

When was the last time any of you seen this city investigate themselves for anything that has come to public forum? This is probably only tip of iceberg internal corruption. Feds should look a deep as well, no telling what will be unfolded, lol.

None of those councils have been good stewards of the public's money from inception of that City. Not only should the city be made to pay the grant monies back to the State! A Criminal investigation and prosecution of the individual(s) whom this money was in the control of be sent to JAIL.

The state or feds will not require these public enitities prosecute those who that steal from the people...Only spank the fundee on hands and make them pay back the Grant Money. State just as bad as the local government when there aren't any prosecution provisions for 'Fraud' not stupidity or incompentencies.

Incompentency doesn't equal JAIL time for missing funds or should I say (Can not account for) which appears to not consititute a the necessity for a Criminal Investigation of themeselves or Council actions before them -'Troubling'...huh?

The Beat Goes On - Let's all move on! All in the PAST. :evil: When are the people going to get enough of this crap and demand better of their government? Probably never! Those who were the real benefituaries of those funds will never see any fuison realized.

Now that is the real tradegy.
Once someone is convicted and prosecuted for misappropriation of the public trust and spend some real JAIL or PRISON time, will the public start to have trust in it's government again.

This should not business as usual and City officials should take responsiblity instead of refusing to protect the public treasury because of the actions of others.

If paying back Grant Money to the state - You should open a criminal investigation - City need to Clean Up the internal mess they have down there and stop pass the buck of no accountability.

Maybe the peoeple who elected you will have a little more respect for ya.

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Going Forward?
written by kd006, January 25, 2008

Blindly,

Dangle another shiny object in front of the public it keeps them in line. Let's see now $39K or $44K in grants to repair the youth center and it still needs a new floor, roof, gutters and a "lot more work".

Can not account for $18K but suggest taking the remaining $21K and dump it into the skate park, I thought they already got the materials and were installing the new surface or was that some sort of smoke screen too?

The lease for the youth center is expired? What? Who's minding the store? Add to that no one seems to know how many years the center has been open or on it's 10 year timeline.

Yes it is time for an investigation and full disclosure of what is going on, was any of this money actually spent on the youth center building or just a $8,000 basketball court? It sounds like in their drive to "move forward" like much of the other actions of the city they failed to plan ahead. If the building is in such bad shape perhaps it should be replaced, you can get an awfully big pre-fab steel bulding for $25K.

I agree we need an investigation by an outside agency to shine some light on this. If it results in criminal action or a slap on the wrist remains to be seen. We never did find out what the FBI was doing here a few years back, swept that under the rug.

It's time we demand accountability from our elected and appointed officials. Put on the brakes, stand still for a minute and take a hard look at where the hell we are rushing forward to! Without planning it's bound to turn out badly as it has done in the past. I don't know if our leaders are overwhelmed or just incompetent and we better find out soon.

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Perspective please
written by Donna Christopher, January 25, 2008

folks - the Federal government has 9 billion in Iraq that they can't account for - C'mon Clearlake, a measly 18k is the best you can bungle :wink: Find everyone that had access to the check book during the period that this money went AWOL, hang'em all and let God sort'em out. Set some standards

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impunity
written by James, January 25, 2008

Catch them if you can and the arrogance of no shame able to look you in the eye to point at someone else. I say lets have a met and we will have a new, new, new beginning Pass the badges. Makes me prould,how about you?

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How Stupid
written by get smart, January 25, 2008

How stupid do you have to be; to be a city councilperson? According to this article as I read it; this money was procured with the sole purpose as being a source of funds for the Hot Spot Youth Center! Any use of this money for any other purpose than the Hot Spot Youth Center will result in the state disallowing that expenditure and a demand that the money be returned to the state. The state is going to recover the entire grant should the city fail to fulfill the terms of the grant; the city has entered into a contract with the State of California for ten years; so the city is obligated to keep the youth center open for ten years! Unless I am missing something here; the city can not use any of these funds for a new Skate Park.

I would say to Joyce Overton; you are wise to be opposed to using any of these funds for anything other than the Hot Spot Youth Center without specific permission from the State of California to do so!

To you Mr. Simons; City Councilman from the City of Clearlake; I say you are correct; this is gross negligence, and deserving of further investigation; but not necessarily because of any criminal activity by any of those involved; but moreover because this is a prim example of shoddy bookkeeping by someone lacking the skills to track a simple and small grant such as this; given today's tools!

I really question the abilities of Mr. Dale Neiman the City Administrator for the City of Clearlake when he "suggested using the remaining $21,570 as seed money to build a new skate park facility".

Unless that $8,000.00 spent on a basketball court was part of the Hot Spot Youth Center it would of course been disallowed; I would think! But without reading the grant; one can not be assured to this fact.

This is why every grant needs to be looked at every month; and as the City Administrator Mr. Neiman had better be getting a firm grip on his staff or be prepared to move on pretty soon; as he will be of no value to the City of Clearlake if he can not even keep a handle on this small simple grant. Goodness knows what kind of shape the City budget must be in; given its dollar amount!

Adding another program such as suggested by Mr. Neiman "a parks and recreation program" is the last thing the city seems to be needing to do at this point; given Mr. Neiman is having difficulty administrating; whatever it is he is already administrating.

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A few clarifications
written by elarson, January 25, 2008

To play devil's advocate, Neiman has been city administrator less than a year, so a lot of this started well in advance of his arrival. So, blaming him for how this all plays out isn't entirely reasonable. When new administrators arrive, I can only guess it takes them a while to get a grasp on everything going on with the city's funds. I believe the city also lost its grant administrator in the past year, so there are a lot of reasons why this might have happened.

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Is this any way to run an airl
written by kd006, January 25, 2008

Neiman may be only a year into his job, however I recall some talk about an audit. What became of that? Yes the grant administrator left suddenly. In business people come and go, comptrolers, vice presidents, accountants are all replacable BUT if proper bookkeeping is practiced the paper trail is clear. What is not clear is why the City of Clearlake can not keep it's books in order. Obviously if this were free enterprise the market forces would have buried this place in the dust a long time ago. What about Thein, Overton, Giambruno and the rest? They have been here through all of this and still don't seem to have a clue what is going on.

Every time something comes up like this they all talk about "Moving Forward" but if you don't know where your going moving forward seems like and exercise in futility. Time to stop, assess the problem, come up with a plan to fix the problem and then take action.

There are too many high and mighty "goals" and until we get the city system fixed they will just end up costing the taxpayers more and more. To the city council I suggest, if you can't pay attention then move on. The finger pointing and suggestions that it was somebody else does not fly. Clearlake is entrenched in "that's the way it's always been done" thinking. Time for a change, and anyone who does not want to change had better get the heck out of the way.

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Audit
written by elarson, January 25, 2008

They did an audit last year; I looked over it they apparently received a clean bill of health. However, I'm no accountant so there's doubtless things that I didn't see that may have been significant.

Keep in mind, audits usually look at pretty specific areas, and I don't recall that audit pointing to the budget problems they discovered during their budgeting sessions.

Unfortunately, Finance Director Michael Vivrette wasn't at the meeting last night. He might have been able to explain the whole thing better. I'll see if I can't catch up with him sometime on this issue.

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Thank You
written by get smart, January 25, 2008

Thank You Elizabeth; and I apologize if my writings gave way to the appearance of seeming to want to lay blame, which was not my intent at all! I was only questing Mr. Neiman's knowledge of understanding that you can not spend grant money for anything other than what that grant money was intended to be spent on.

Would I want his job; not in this life time! That being said; I would also say I was not the one who applied for the job; he did! I was suggesting that he just might be out of his element here! Given the circumstances at the time he joined this administration as their Administrator; he should have been able to hit the ground running; in my humble opinion. The City Council is ultimately responsible here; because they might not have hired the right person for this job. This is not to imply that Mr. Neiman is not a good City Administrator given the right City; this just may not be that city given the many taunting task this city seems to be offering!

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No apologies needed
written by elarson, January 25, 2008

No need to apologize. This is an extremely complex problem that definitely needs a closer look.

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State Auditors
written by get smart, January 25, 2008

Tracking grants are a pretty simple task once everyone understand that there are only specific things that grant money can be spent on; and are usually pretty well spelled out in the grant. Now that Kelly Cox is a master manipulator when it comes to manipulating grant funds; that boy can get more bang for the buck than anybody I have ever encountered. Only an auditor familiar with the terms of the grant would have been able to catch any improprieties. That's why one always has to be wary of the State auditors!!!

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humble opinion
written by get smart, January 25, 2008

One may not like Kelly Cox for whatever their personal reason may be; but you have to give the devil his dues. Lord; help this county when Kelly is gone! Kelly knows on any given day where every dime of this county's money is! He looks over this county's money like some old mother hen! That is not to say that he has not been caught a time or two with his hand in the States cookie jar when it comes to pushing the envelope. Kelly will do his very best to steal any grant monies he can for the county's general fund; but that's his job; the job we pay him to do, and a job he does very well I might add; now that is just my humble opinion you understand.

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New beginning
written by James, January 27, 2008

and badges too. Wishing don't make it so. Without accountabilty and heads that don't roll but you care? you hire liers from the county government.

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