Loren Monroe, a modern day Nostradamus?
No need to consult an Ouija board or Sylvia Brown.
If you want to predict how well Detroit will spend millions in federal stimulus cash in the coming months the City Hall Insider suggests looking to Auditor General Loren Monroe.
His office just issued an assessment of how prepared the city is to handle the $215 million Detroit applied for and it isn't pretty.
As if the 50,000 people who descended on Cobo this week for 5,000 aide applications wasn't enough evidence of rocky waters ahead, here's more warnings from Monroe:
None of the departments which applied for aide have set up any "fraud prevention programs," which are recommended by the feds to "prevent ineligible individuals and questionable firms from gaining access to government funds."
City departments aren't showing up to meetings to learn the spending rules. Officials with the Detroit Fire Department, the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, Health and Wellness Department and Environmental Affairs have all been AWOL at meetings to go over federal reporting guidelines, according to Monroe's report.
Most of the stimulus money is not given to the city upfront, but is distributed through reimbursements. The city is so short on cash that it might delay programs getting started, Monroe found.
The stimulus act includes whistle-blower protection for employees who uncover waste and abuse with the federal funds, but the city has no such policy.
The bright side: the city's only received $2.7 million of the $63.7 million it has been granted so far, so there is time to tighten controls.
Here's a breakdown of what the city has applied for, been granted and received:
Department of Human Services
Amount requested: $48.2 million
Amount awarded: $33.2 million
Amount received: $1.8 million
Detroit Department of Transportation
Amount requested: $37.6 million
Detroit Police Department
Amount requested: $32.5 million
Amount awarded: $20.2 million
Detroit Workforce Development Department
Amount requested: $25.2 million
Amount awarded: $10.3 million
Amount awarded:$900,000
Planning and Development Department
Amount requested: $25.1 million
Department of Public Works
Amount requested: $21.6 million
General Services Department
Amount requested: $8.8 million
Detroit Fire Department
Amount requested: $7.2 million
Detroit Water and Sewerage Department
Amount requested: $6.4 million
Department of Health and Wellness
Amount requested: $1.9 million
