WINONA — Central Mississippi Inc. is working diligently to restore funding for a $2.6 million stimulus grant and hopes to be reinstated by next week, according to the newly hired head of the program.
David Wilson, director of CMI’s Weatherization Assistance Program, told the board of directors Tuesday night that he would be meeting with state auditors next week.
“I’m hopeful. I’m going to ask them to give us a probationary period of two months to comply fully with everything they asked in hopes they will reinstate the funding for the ARRA program because we do have a lot of needy clients, and we also have some needy employees,” said Wilson, who began work earlier this month.
The state Department of Human Services ordered CMI to stop its administration of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act program on Sept. 15 because of concerns about home inspections and the quality of work performed. The community action agency — which receives grants to help the poor in seven counties, including Leflore — cannot spend money on the weatherization grant until it’s cleared by the state.
Wilson said about 99 percent of the homes had problems that needed to be addressed.
CMI went out to the field on about 160 homes and did some rework, he said. Only about five remain, and those should be finished by Thursday, Wilson said.
The paperwork side is less close to being finished, and there will still be some deficiencies when CMI goes to the state next week, he said. For example, a 12-month printout of utility bills is required in the files, but about 40 percent of those are missing, he said.
“I’m going to ask for a stay of execution for some of that data because it’s not as relevant as catching up on the important items that we’ve been working on,” Wilson said.
As it tries to right the ship, CMI’s board is also seeking a new leader. Former Executive Director Tomeka Harbin resigned effective Sept. 30 after receiving notice that funding for the weatherization program was being cut off.
Board member Robert Collins handed out a letter Tuesday night criticizing the procedure used to hire Harbin in June 2009.
“I served on the last committee to select an Executive Director,” Collins’ letter stated. “To say the least, we did not have a good process in place. The process was very one-sided, unorganized and probably went against a sound hiring practice.”
Collins, who also serves as a Leflore County supervisor, recommended that the board make current deputy director Shirley Franks interim director for a period of six months. The board could then slow down and make sure it got things right, Collins said.
The board decided to leave Franks as deputy director and continue with plans to advertise for the executive director’s position through Friday, pending verification of placement of two job advertisements in newspapers in all seven counties CMI serves.
Collins’ letter also said the Holmes County Board of Supervisors has authorized its attorney to sue CMI regarding the appointment of one of its board representatives. Each county appoints three members to the board.
After one of Holmes County’s members was voted off by CMI’s board, Holmes supervisors wanted to reappoint the same person, according to CMI board members. So after a delay, the Holmes County circuit clerk selected a new member.
“The only one that had that authority to appoint her was the Board of Supervisors,” Collins said. “Am I right or wrong? I mean the bylaws clearly state (it).”
William Shelton, chairman of CMI’s board, passed out a proposed resolution Tuesday that apparently would change the board’s bylaws regarding appointments, based on conversation members had about the document.
The exact contents of the resolution weren’t clear because Shelton gave it only to board members. He said he had numbered them and wanted them back afterward so the information wouldn’t “get into the wrong hands.”
News broke about CMI losing the weatherization grant after a letter was leaked to a reporter after last month’s meeting.
Board member Bryant Clark, an attorney and state representative, said board members should be allowed to keep the documents until the next meeting. They were then given the option of keeping the resolution.
The Commonwealth has filed a public records request asking for the resolution.
• Contact Charlie Smith at csmith@gwcommonwealth.com.
