Report: Grants poorly handled

The Clarion-Ledger, 5/6/8

Jackson’s decentralized, disorganized approach to managing millions in state and federal grants over the years has created a system where top city administrators are unable to track spending or hold anyone responsible for poor accounting.

When a grant manager leaves for another job, often no one knows which grants are active, where the files are located or what the passwords are on the federal grant Web sites, Assistant Chief Administrative Officer Valerie Nevels told City Council members Monday.

“The city stopped doing financial audits some time ago,” Nevels said. “Everybody knows that nobody is minding the store.”