misuse Archives – DV Journal

(This article first appeared in Broad + Liberty)

When Upper Darby resident John DeMasi sought information in late May about a federal investigation into township misconduct, the township refused. This month, when he turned to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the agency let him review the documents.

The contrasting responses from state and federal governments underscore the problems Upper Darby faces in light of the HUD revelations. One of those problems is transparency — or the lack thereof.

The information the city withheld from DeMasi included the May 14 HUD report that Wide + Freedom obtained through its own federal Freedom of Information Act request. That letter detailed Upper Darby’s misdirection of $40,000 in federal funds. On July 8, this outlet reported on the misdirection of money from HUD’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program.

In his May request, DeMasi asked for “all communications and correspondence sent to the City (from January through May) from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development relating to moneys to be repaid to HUD or reimbursed to HUD.” All the city gave DeMasi was a set of instructions on how the city could repay the federal agency. After DeMasi wrote to HUD earlier this month, the department provided him with the May report and a June 13 response from Upper Darby Chief Administrative Officer Crandall Jones.

In denying most of DeMasi’s request on July 3, Jones cited a provision of Pennsylvania’s right to know law, which allows officials to withhold records from “an agency relating to a noncriminal investigation.”

DeMasi filed an appeal with the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records (OOR) to challenge that argument. He noted that the township’s home-rule charter states that municipal “investigations” occur “by majority vote” of the Township Council, but the council took no such vote on the HUD money. And HUD itself did not require secrecy, so DeMasi argues that Jones should not have used the (now completed) federal investigation as an excuse to conceal information.

While OOR has not yet ruled on DeMasi’s appeal, the local activist believes what has happened so far is devastating to the administration of Democratic Mayor Ed Brown.

“What exactly are they (Upper Darby) trying to protect…?” he said. “It’s not the country’s nuclear codes; it’s what was going on with administrative malpractice in our… local government. So, who are they trying to protect…? And if the federal government says, ‘Here, you should have this information,’ why would the local government say, ‘Oh, you should have this information.’ not “Do you have this information…?”

The ineligible purchases made with CDBG funds included toys, Chromebook laptops and gift cards for charitable giving in 2022 and 2023. In the May 14 letter, HUD alerted City Administrative Services Director Scott Alberts to the $40,309.44 in erroneous spending. On June 28, City staff informed Brown and the City Council that Upper Darby would reimburse HUD in full.

During a council meeting on Thursday, three different residents asked officials during public comment what revenue Upper Darby would use to repay HUD. The first two women were met with prolonged silence, prompting one audience member to say, “Can we test the microphones?”

After the third woman asked about the source of the refund, Jones replied, “It’s coming out of the general fund,” prompting a groan from the audience. (Some residents came to the meeting to complain about the city’s deteriorating finances, which the Brown administration wants to address with a new income tax.)

CDBG funds typically go toward activities such as public facility improvements and housing assistance. Last year, the use of the grants to give away toys during the holidays caught the attention of Councilwoman Laura Wentz, a former Democrat who now runs as an independent. She believed that providing holiday gifts, food and other items to needy families was a good thing, but she objected to the way the city and Men of Action Brothers of Faith (MOABOF), a nonprofit then run by Brown, were managing the giveaways.

Wentz questioned the city about spending about $6,000 on toys for the 2021 holiday event, complaining that the purchases were not properly documented. She also took issue with a Target receipt for a $153 hoverboard, a much larger expense than most other toys, most of which cost between $10 and $20 each. The councilwoman also said she found it irregular that the city purchased the items and claimed reimbursement on behalf of a nonprofit, rather than CBDG reimbursing the organization.

According to her, municipal officials have exploited the charity events during the holidays for ‘political purposes’.

When Jones wrote to HUD saying it would take corrective action, he attached a document titled “Internal Control/Compliance Documentation & Procedures Policy” that governs the use of CDBG funds. The policy, revealed by DeMasi’s FOIA request, acknowledges that “ineligible activities” include “political activities.” This mirrors HUD’s own rules.

Brown and his Democratic predecessor Barbarann ​​Keffer are now on the defensive over whether they kept the use of HUD funds apolitical. The holiday parties they funded served to raise the public profile of Brown, then a mayoral candidate, and were advertised with flyers listing co-sponsors, including council members and elected council members who were allies of Keffer. Board critics on the council were left out.

The bipartisan group that was excluded from co-sponsoring included Wentz, Burke, at-large Democrat Matt Silva, 1st District Republican Meaghan Wagner, 3rd District Republican Brian Andruszko and then 2nd District Republican Lisa Faraglia. Wentz and Burke said Wide + Freedom They were never asked to co-sponsor the events.

And while Brown is no longer the leader of MOABOF, he continues to promote the organization’s work using ineligible government funds. At a June 10 Township Council meeting, which the mayor was unable to attend due to family travel, Jones read a statement from Brown in which Brown praised MOABOF’s distribution of laptops, food and toys, but failed to mention that the township improperly funded these items. He added that the council had once given MOABOF a community award for these activities.

Brown continued to insist that gift cards were “the problem,” even though they accounted for only a small portion of the misallocated HUD money.

According to DeMasi, Upper Darby officials appear to have helped MOABOF burnish the reputations of Brown and local politicians associated with him.

“It seems like the new mayor got all these perks and all the city council members that signed up used this freebie in their political propaganda and said, ‘Look what we’re doing; we support all of this,’” DeMasi said. “So yes, it’s absolutely political.”

Brown’s July 10 statement to the Council said that “all funds spent (by MOABOF) were returned to the municipality,” though he did not specify an amount. During Thursday’s Council meeting, DeMasi asked for the amount but did not receive a response.

At the July 10 meeting, Jones praised Upper Darby Community and Economic Development Director Rita LaRue for uncovering the misappropriation of community development funds.

“As a result of Ms. LaRue becoming responsible for overseeing that area (CDBG funds) when I came on board (this year),” Jones said, “she was the one who actually identified the problem, brought it to me and Mayor Brown, and we began the process of correcting the problem.”

Jones failed to note that Wentz, Burke and Democratic Township Treasurer David Haman began investigating holiday spending last year. He also failed to note that HUD began its investigation after Wide + Freedom Investigative reporter Todd Shepherd contacted HUD’s press office about possible improper spending.

Neither Brown, Keffer, Jones nor the other sponsors of the holiday giveaway responded to emails requesting comment.

According to Jones’ letter to HUD last month, Upper Darby will send the federal agency updated municipal guidelines on the use of CDBG money by Sept. 30.