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| Grant Money, Not This Year |
We will not have to worry about grant money next year, because of this fiasco the River City received a big Goose Egg.
WDT Administrator
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Journal:Ogdensburg council ready to review housing administrator
We will not have to worry about grant money next year, because of this fiasco the River City received a big Goose Egg.
WDT Administrator
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49 comments:
Grant money is our money and our money should be spent wisely.
Grants should be identified and used as the taxpayers want not just the council or city staff. When grants are found and identified a process to identify and advertise to the taxpayers where it could be spent should be held. Then a public hearing could be held and let the public give guidence.
I guess all grants couldnt work in this manner however large one(set an amount) could and should be done in some form similar to this.
Contractors should have to put up a sort of bond to get these jobs and the work should absolutely be inspected by at least the city staff. I agree payment should be withheld until the job is completed inspected, approved by the city. No one should be allowed to live in these houses. Sales would be done from a list and by open auction from interested eligible people.
Low bids would get the jobs. If the low bidder dosnt get the job then the reason for not being chosen should be made a public record in the city. This again would help with fraud..
The contractors would be given no preference such as only those living in city county state. Open the bid to all....
Also demand that once the job starts the contractor be provided with a finish date or they provide the city with a finish date. Penalties for those over their date without a valid excuse.
If the city decides to stay in business with Augustine group which I hope they dont they shoud demand monthly appearances by their employees with answers for any council or public questions asked.
Excellant 10:16 that is the way it should be run... But it was Not Run even near to what you wrote !!
I,d like to hear from contractors about there ideas.. Identify yourselves and give some input.. It would be hard to be open with us because of the ability to rape the present system...
I feel the way it should work as far as the administrators is
A. Administrator be paid by the city from the grant money.
B. Administrator would pay its own realitor from Grant money given from city.
C. People put on list and preference by signup date or qualification date..(No lottery as it only tends to be corrupt)
D. Contractor put on list and copy of all bidding kept by city for future reference..
I feel we need to get out however if they chose to stay in this program run it correctly and keep an eye on things. Make the administrator accountable for everything.. Howmuch is spent , who got awarded the jobs ect.
The last blog on" Never Made Sense " is starting to cook! Read it! The political hacker's and sore losers are losing . Way to go smarter blogers. Notice the comments are boiling down to facts!!
The last blog on" Never Made Sense " is starting to cook! Read it! The political hacker's and sore losers are losing . Way to go smarter blogers. Notice the comments are boiling down to facts!!
During my professional career i authored and was AWARDED over 15 million dollars in grant money for both research and other types of sponsored programs . In the interest of educating those who have little idea how it works here is the methodology
THE SPONSORS ( ie the public agencies and/or private foundations who FUND the research or activities ARE THE CONTROLLING authority )
The sponsored research or program must initially be designed to meet or exceed the requirement in order to successfully compete with sometimes thousands of other applicants.
If one application survives the competition and ACTUALLY is awarded a grant it MUST ADHERE to the SPONSORING agency REQUIREMENTS . Any programmatic deviation from the INITIAL award requires the APPROVAL of the funding agencies
Grants awarded by both public and PRIVATE sector funds require the Principal investigator or Project Director to report on SPECIFIC and MEASUREABLE Goals and Objectives that each SPONSOR ( or funding agency) requires in order for any one or any entity to actually RECEIVE the grant in the first instance .
It IS NEVER WILLY NILLY and requires both adherence to sponsor guidelines as well as financial reporting requirements .
That said ,it is incumbent on the Project staff to MEET or EXCEED those expectations ---ESPECIALLY IF there is ANY Hope of EVER being awarded ANY FURTHER grants .
That's the WAY it WORKS !
Nice blog 9:03. Your referance to NEVER WILLY NILLY ? At the last councel meeting (on disc at city hall and channel 30) O'neil's nickname should be Willy Nilly with him saying rules change every day..etc. The council was not even asking hard questions. You only get the grant money if the Rules and regulations are followed.. so did all the projects follow then ... I think Not.
This is 9:03 Frankly i NEVER encountered a sponsor on ANY award i received that was UNCLEAR or Uncertain with the rules.
The following statement from my earlier post was ALWAYs the situation in MY experience, whenever ANY change to the Grant award was being CONSIDERED.
"Any programmatic deviation from the INITIAL award requires the APPROVAL of the funding agencies"
iS OGDENSBURG DIFFERANT ?? h'MM WHATDOES THE GRANT SPONSOR HAVE TO SAY -- DID THEY APPROVE CHANGES ? iN ADVANCE OF THE ACTION ?
TO hell w the housing program!! We have two councilmen in the underworld of the crime and expert witnesses to boot!! I think our new crimefightersw should take on some masks and solve the crimes in O'burg!! The new dynamic DUO!!!
We will develop a beacon to flash in the sky as a calling for our new vigilante's to answer to our many needs here in our fair city!!
we will call them SKAMPORLEY!!!
The way I understood it, from what was said at council meetings (and reported in the Journal) was that the city got a clean bill of health from the State when they came to audit the programs that Augustine is administering.
If they got a gold star from the state what makes anyone think that the rules aren't being followed.
Oneill did say that the state was making up and changing the rules as they went along, but augustine was there to make sure the city was keeping up with the changes and complying with the regulations.
If the last dude is correct then the city should get totally out of the business.. Let Augustine and group buy the houses and fix them up and sell them anyway they want.. Any houses the city takes control of should be sold at well advertised public auctions period..
No more free rides for grant money users and abusers.... Let these groups bid and buy the places and fix them up and worry about selling them themselves....
Failed programs over the years kept alive with grant moneys have been supported by groups that benifit from them..
One particular one is the DARE program.. Proven usless years ago the police still are active in it as it gives them grant money Like the teachers the use the excuse ITS ALL FOR THE KIDS...
This program has got to be history and the sooner the better. Our council was made a fool out of to the man including the ignorant mayor.. Now Jen Stevenson still wants to be involved with it.. No wonder with the money these few people made and the loss of integrity this city and its government recieved......
Other failed programs at TAXPAYER expense include the SOTP or as its known the Sexually Violent Predator Resort which FAILS to rehabilitate any significant percentage offenders .
It chews tremendous amount of scarce resources and the recidivism rates are awful.
Another is the prison system as currently deployed ( same problems costs too much and is ineffective ) and would be better operated by the for profit sector and run like a business .
You want more ?? There are plenty of programs which are ineffective - how bout multiple overlapping agencies for economic development all the "Alphabet agencies" and Authorities etc. That problem is endemic
From spelling, punctuation, capitalization and context, it is clear that there are 2 or 3 people frequenting this blog creating a smoke-screen of an argument that is out of the mainstream for the city, state and country.
Its the spelling freak again.
No I,m not out of the mainstream. I along with most others on this blog understand what we are writing about.. Its the teachers like yourself and the self centered administrators and the school board in this city thats out of the mainstream. Instead of picking at our grammar, add to the blog with some input of your own or do you have any?. Do you know how to write? If you had done your job when we went to school we would be better at this...
For now I would encourage you to give us your wisdom and advise on these topics we talk about. I notice you sign ANOM just like we do so your no better in that area. Tell you what, better yet just FUCK OFF..
The housing authority and the grant people obviously have quite a racket going. The less educated people are the less they have to be accountable.
The city should get out of this business completely and now.
Theres no positive thing in this for the city itself. Its a free lunch for all but nothing positive for the city.. A few scattered houses back on the tax roll. The same affect the auction system has.
The only people that really benifit is the Augustine group and their contractors. Getting lots of grant money to spend this way does nothing to help most of us in the city and the end result is obvious.
I,d also like to hear from Mike Morley again.. Mike, what happened to the investigation into who leaked the report about Sciorra? Has any steps been taken to hire a new city attorney? You said you would like a portion of every meeting set aside for the public questions and answers. Have you attempted to do that yet, or are you letting Nelson dictate his way?
How much has firing Sciorra cost so far? How much more will be spent because of the lack of a real manager?? Have you been aware Krol is going to help Watertown find a new manager and has anyone suggested hiring him a five to ten thousand as oppposed to what you did in the Sciorra hunt by hiring a firm at fifty thousand????
Mike we all know you read this blog daily and its a way of communicating as you were on it daily during SEpt Oct. Nov . No reason for you not to answer is there...
`The way certian people on this blog treated him why should he be on it. Notice anybody using there name now? No RESPECT - No ANSWERS
1) There is no connection between Stevenson and C.W. Augustine. As has been said before, she works for one of O'Neill's competitors. She hasn't sold many of the houses O'Neill was involved in, most of them were sold by the city, Allison Chadwick is in second place there. Jen Stevenson did take the lead at an information session that C.W. Augustine had for council candidates way back in November/October, but that was only because she was the only one who could talk about the issues involved without sounding like a slimy, pompous ass. There IS a connection between Stevenson and Justin Woods, they were good friends and neighbors. That doesn't mean they were in cahoots about anything, Ogdensburg is so small and deserted these days we're all neighbors. Then again, this city is full of unethical, disgusting crooks, so who knows.
2) Jim O'Neill has taken this city for a ride. There is a reason they call him Mr. Kickbacks. Someone on the council - or our former city manager - was/is getting paid. No doubt about it.
3) Who cares who the leak was? The report happened 3 months ago, the crook was fired, the issue is settled. If you want to know, go after Liz Graham at the Journal, she is as shady and dishonest as can be. There is no doubt that she is the one pulling Chris Robbins' strings.
4) City housing programs have always operated on grant money - from the city, county, state or federal level, it is important that this property is put back on the tax rolls in a way that doesn't trash our city. There is a worthwhile argument to be had at who should be doing it and how, but there isn't a good argument against the fact that Ogdensburg sorely, sorely needs it. If not for grant money, Ogdensburg would sink into the St. Lawrence River. On second thought, good riddance.
5) The crummy work done on houses in the city is the contractors fault for being incompetent, O'Neill's fault for letting crummy work be done, and the city's fault for not inspecting. No excuse all-around.
6) The heart of the problem is the lack of education, care, responsibility and professionalism by people involved at every level - from housing program, to department heads, to the city manager, to the city council and especially to the voters. Just look at the comments on this blog, people are dragging conspiracy theories and defamatory accusations out of left-field and portraying them as cold, hard facts. All you've done is create a haze of misinformation which makes it difficult to get anything done. This city is in a crisis - we can't trust our leaders, we're broke, we're crime-ridden, and to make things worse, we're acting like a bunch of retarded orangutans with a case of verbal diarrhea.
Good for you... Now all we have to do is get out of the housing and the grant process and get away from Augustine.
I agree with the last commentator somewhat but not about the leak.. Who cares? You dont care what your money is spent on and the results? I do and so do the others around town. This was a resolution made and voted on and cannot be just trashed and dropped with the same procedure and a vote.
One of the crooks was fired, one of the crooks resigned and one was awarded a temporary city manager position and the other a temporary judge job by Nelson...
The other lawyer takes our money to do a report and be our lawyer then rescuses himself.. Comman guys give me a break....
Hope this mess gets cleaned up - we need 7 person strong mayor & council that answers to the people! Keep the council in charge never give complete control to the manager! Anyone who gets out of line 4 must answer to the public! Vote the party playing BUM OUT! We need to watch Scamperle and Nelson.. Morley and Storm will steer a course. And watch the 3 NewBees to see what happens! Go to the meetings and Vote!!!! Power has to stay withn the citizens.Don't trust anyone in politics!!
The papers article today about the public hearing shows the council is not interested in what the people think. They are going to basicly give these houses away.
Nelsons comments are nothing more than political.. Blame must go to the federal government.. The stimulas money by Obama is the fault. He should have given it to the rich republicans on Wall St like Matt Doheny instead..
The government has a program with rules. The ignorance of our mayor and council allowed the program to be fleeced nothing less than that. IF they disagree with the guidlines of a program then dont be in it... Trouble is they didnt know the guidelines nor did they car until election time rolled around.
If this is the Obama administration's fault, how come we haven't heard stories of the programs being a flop elsewhere? I think Ogdensburg is a mess run by dumb-butts, and that is why the program is so screwed up here. Is there any way we can dissolve the city?
The city is still a good place to live. What we have to do is bring out everything in the open. After a complete audit of the city start cleaning house at city hall.
If Cosmo new what was going on with the grant progams, and did nothing, he should be fired. Cosmo is the CFO of the city he should have notified the city council and mayor of any wrong doing by any one working for the city of ogdensburg.
Only after you answer all the questions concering grant progams, housing progams can you then move forward.
Hey!!!. Maybe we can get a grant to make up the $1/4 million Nelson and Morley spent to get rid of Sciorra.
We keep asking the question: "How much Mike?" And the only answers we get are name calling and changing the subject.
The reason we want to know Mike is, it was our taxpayer $$$ you wasted, after you bragged in the paper it wouldn't cost us a dime because Sciorra lied to YOU, and he would be fired for cause.
Fess up, Mike. We all know who the biggest liar in the city is.
A good place to live? This place is a dump with incompetent government, minimal services and no culture.
This place is a sewer , a cesspool of crime , drugs , ignorant and failed politicians
Once Vaugh and Powers stepped down I thought we might experience an uplifting in open government. Obviously wrong... Nelson already has his parrots picked out for this term..
I loved this city all my life but I have to believe the last two bloggers are being realistic..
Its all about showmanship.. Nelsons posing for another term at the camera, more work on the waterfront for the rich to enjoy while the rest of the city decays around us... More housing problems ahead no doubt with Stevenson looking for her cut.. Hosmer will be pitching in to get his share of the money for his marina, storm will be leading the charge to get the rescue squad relocated at Hackets, Skamp will probably be smoking crack again with Oxley Nelson will be looking at himself in the mirror and taking prim and proper classes for his big run at Albany and Morley well what can we say about a moron thats not true..
How much Mike???
If Nelson could understand what a jerk he sounds like when he states its the governments fault and that he has to clean up the mess he was left he wouldnt possibly make such statements.
This is government at its worst. Getting into a program no one understands without having questions. Letting the manager have a free reign. Letting Woods play god.. Letting the chief fiscal officer off the hook for his incompetance and insubordination then making him temporary manager..
The council and the council period is who is put in office to watch over our city. The council and the council period is to fault for what happened. The players such as the manager, comptroller, planner bldg grounds etc etc are only put in their positions for the purpose of running the city for the council who answers to the taxpayers. When they dont do a good job, it falls to the council and no one else..
The previous council let us down especially their leader Bill Nelson. One can only hope the majority of this new council dosnt always agree with Nelson seeing hes totally incompetant as a leader. If they do, we remain the same decaying away into the river.
This new council has at least three councilors that believe the city dosnt compete with private enterprise.. Let them show it...
These councilors seem to want to help the decay we have experienced.. Let them show it.. Get out of this housing debacle and key on more honest and open agendas..
Does anyone out there think the city is any better with Sciorra gone? Is there anyone out there who thinks it was worth over $200,000 of taxpayer money to get rid of him and get Nelson reelected?
This mayor has displayed his incompetence on numerous occasions BUT with this latest faux pas and his finger pointing now he simply makes it abundantly clear he has NO IDEA how to lead .
The captain usually GOES DOWN with the SHIP . Mayor Nelson needs to humble himself , admit that he was either duped or was asleep at the switch relative to this entire fiasco .
The only thing worse is the absolute STUPIDITY of the voters who put this man back in office .
Unbelievable 0nly in Ogdensburg !!!
Come on Mike. A few days ago you were bragging on how you and your buddies run this blog. If you won't tell us how much taxpayer money you wasted to fire Sciorra and elect Nelson, maybe one of them will.
Unless, you don't really have any buddies, and you lied about them too.
Must be nice to be in the brilliant 50 % of the people and hide behind an anonymous blog ....Your a A loser never a leader!
The only one to speak any truth and quite frankly show his disgust in this whole matter was Powers. He was and advocate for Sciorra and spoke vocally for him in the public, I had a many debate with him.. He always stated his worth until this issue arose. He knowingly recognized it and realized that Sciorra, Woods and the council were responsible. Calling for their jobs. He openly this admitted this to me after the fact.
I can't stand by and allow all of you naysayers to bash these men who stepped up to try to run our city.
You ignorant assholes are quick to slam men and women who want to try and make a difference. Go to a meeting bitches. these men and women are not the people you make them out to be.
To 423.. How do you sign when you are on this blog... Oh.. Same as me
To 853.. Bruce.. WOW..
Powers proved he was a quitter when he refused to run for another term.. He missed meeting randomly because of his work. His opinion only parroted Nelson.. He voted with Nelson 96 percent of the time higheer than Nicky Vaugh at 92 percent... What did he acomplish in four years.
Please Forgive Bruce he DRANK the kool aid .
4:23: Hi Mike!! How much? $250K?
Is the city any better?
It would be if you would get off this Blog. Must be Dan or one of his friends?
OH poor Mike. Doesn't like people repeating things about him, like he did to Art Sciorra in this blog and with his "buddy" Chris at The Journal.
The difference is you've been either hiding the truth or lying about it.
After all, WE TAXPAYERS are still paying for a CM who is sitting home, and not working because he was fired FOR NO CAUSE.
You lied about it Mike, over, and over, and over again.
They fired the CM in Watertown, but she is still working while getting paid. You screwed up so much, our former CM doesn't even have to work while being paid.
We know you think of us a losers Mike, and we are, because we believed you, and your buddies Chris and Liz at the Journal.
You said it would cost us about what the city budgeted for litigation ($11,000?).
So, we just want to know what the entire cost was Mike. Over $200,000?
KOOL AID ALERT WOW 8:17 Will you please name me the XXXXX City Managers Supporters. Other than Skanperle,Vaugn,or Flynn. Nelson won an election for flushing the bum out. NO ONE SUPPORTED THE MANAGER . ALL the door to door campaigners said 80% of the people said he was the problem!
Art YOU LOST !!!!! VOTERS won!
Yep. You and your buddies at the Journal barely carried the day, even after you battered the guy for 8 months. Then it turns out there was no substance to the charges you fabricated.
So, he was fired WITHOUT cause.
Why won't you tell us how much it cost us taxpayers for this fiasco?
Now that the truth has come out, you and Nelson couldn't be elected dog catchers, and The Journal is on life support.
How much Mike?rparead seem
SUBJECT GRANT MONEY
For all you people that have Questions on Sxcorria & Woods handing the grants to CW Augistine... James O'Neil,Jen Ashley & Stevenson.
wwww.constructionmismanagement.org
READ This completely and form your own opinion!!!!!!!
I have yet to see much comment, especially by the Council & Mayor regarding the $ 200,000 plus spent by O'Neill (out of the grant money) on the two houses now worth only $ 41,000 and $ 52,000 respectively. No way this amount of money could be spent without padding bills so someone (most likely O'Neill) can pocket the money. O'Neill stated in the papers that the recent audit had nothing to do with looking at the real issue...they audited only if program guidelines were followed...nobody (independent) has audited the scope of work and money spent issue only that the project and the recipient qualified for the help. We need a real look into how this money is being spent, not only that the party receiving the work qualified for it! We need real inspections by real engineers as well...the work is shoddy and substandard at a cost of $200.00 per square foot...the City needs to get rid of this guy O'Neill who is obviously getting away with anything he wants. He is in total control of the program without any real oversight....the City is going to be liable for substandard work while O'Neill gets six figures plus for pushing a few papers around his desk.
Excellant 5;39 FINALLY some one has hit the nail on the head! The city can try to hide this ...but to many people have been effected
by this program!
CW Augistine (AKA) James O"NEIL and Jen ASHLEY and friends have pocketed large sums of money while ripping off homeowners.
Citizens tryed to blow the whistle to mayor and council, but when only 2 Morley and Sholette would rock the boat.They were also out of the circle. It was silenced! Nelson,Powers,Cilly stayed together letting Scorria and Woods have control ! ( they were not paying attention lazy, or whatever.) Vaugn personally protected Art and Skamperle thiks Art was the greatest thing since sliced bread.BUT WITH THESE GUYS ITS OVER!!!
The New council has to sweep it under the rug or proceed on O'Neil and this gruop of rip offs.
Morley may get Ashley and Hosmer -but politics may persue. Nelson and Cilly want it go away!!! Jen Stevenson is a James O"Neil supporter.Skamperle will follow then wind. My bet is we better call the DPW because the pile of dirt under the rug is out of control.
A while back we were trying to sell our house so that we
could have Jim O'Neill construction Management
Services Augustine Group build us a house. at that
time he was also the inspector for the County Housing
Counsel. He told us that if we would lower down our
price enough on our house for sale he would get a St
Lawrence County applicant to buy it. That family had
already picked out a house they wanted to buy, but
O'Neill sid he was going to inspect that house and
fail it. Then he was going to tell them that our house was
available. It turned out that we got a buyer on our own
in the meantime and O'Neill had a person in the bank give him information off there mortgage application
so he knew before we did that they weren't going to get a
mortgage.. Jim O'neill always has somebody on the
inside always always from banks to agencys to govements.
So look closely at all the city counsel members and
find if there backgrounds cross with O'Neill's and
you'll find the one to blame.
How can so many people and local groups ...that keep blowing a whistle on this and our leadership State , county , local ....keeps a deaf ear to name James O'Neil and company ???Please keep speaking up on this blog... thank you !! Editor of this blog keep this subject going!!! Taxpayers are sick of being ripped off.
Wow check out the load of, that O'Neill and his paid employee's have to say in today,s WDT ....he so much as admits that he was required to spend money for the sake of spending money....sure he padded his pockets with plenty of it...one thing is for sure death and grant money is being stolen from taxpayers, while everyone in power lets him wiggle through because its easier to do that than go after him.
The only thing you need to know about O'Neil & Co. is that he had a pedophile on his payroll(contracters list) for years.What does that tell you about his character.
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