I shake my head at some of the shenanigans pulled by leaders we place in public office. Very few of them understand that the money that pays their salaries and funds the programs that run the government come out of our pockets. Maybe understand is not the correct word, maybe they just don’t care.
If they did they would be more diligent on how our funds are spent. A case in point would be the $25 million that was granted to a local person in Clare to build a grandiose health park. The local person happened to work for House Majority leader at the time, also a Clare resident. Somehow, someway the bid was granted without seeking competitive bids.
Now if you know anything about Clare County, you know a $25 million project is very unusual. Developers might put together a $5 million or $10 million deal, but $25 million, that’s not likely in a rural county of 30,000 population.
A lot has been written about this albatross, but it came to light again this week when the Attorney General filed 7 felony charges against the man, and law enforcement raided his home to search and arrest him.
This is just an egregious example. For too many years individuals have formed non-profits and then petitioned the state for funds, and on many occasions, have been granted them with essentially no oversite.
I remember owning the local newspaper in Hamtramck several years ago and visiting a non-profit in the community. The leaders bragged about how much their charity received from the state while surrounded by custom furniture and pocketing much of the money.
I was told in Detroit this happens all the time. The legislature feels Detroit non-profits are very deserving of our money because it is the state’s biggest city and has the greatest need. I got no problem with that assumption, I just have a problem with the lack of controls.
Of course it is worse at the federal level. Legislators have no clue who is getting our money and what they are doing with it. Let’s just say a lot of people have gotten rich from non-profit grants.
One of those who thought he might be one of the those, the Clare man, had allegedly used part of the $25 million grant money to buy cars and gold bars. Those items were confiscated by law enforcement in the raid.
The Clare man was a pillar of the community. Beyond being the top aide to the House Majority Leader, he was Executive Director of the Clare Area Chamber of Commerce. He was also elected to the Clare County Road Commission. He was not someone you would expect in a million years to defraud state government.
The fact that he almost got away with it, only because a hired hand-turned state’s evidence, is a black mark on the state’s ability to manage its budget. I really hope people lost their jobs over this. More importantly I hope the state manages their budget affairs more prudently.
