Sticklers have good reasons
Ever feel yourself becoming frustrated with those bureaucrats who never want to commit right off to a good idea? You know the ones. They announce that the public is invited to come to meetings and offer ideas on how to spend grant money, particularly those annual federal Community Development Block Grants.
To each proposal, the bureaucrats hem and haw. They sure say “no” a lot and never say yes, outright. The best they’ll say is that they have to determine if a proposed project “qualifies” for the money.
Want to know why they insist on following the rules? To keep local governments out of hot water. Just ask Utica, N.Y.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is demanding Utica pay back nearly $1 million in CDBG funds. The city used that money on its $2.44 million historic marina project, that HUD determined does not principally benefit low- and moderate-income people. That’s a costly payback from local funds.