You can add Millbury Police to the “Wall of Shame.” The
department was among several Massachusetts recipients of federal stimulus funds
to violate the law requiring them to file quarterly reports in fiscal 2012.
The “Wall of Shame” is the name given by Recovery.gov to the
list of recipients who fail to submit quarterly spending reports as required
under President Barack Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, commonly
referred to as the Stimulus Act. According to the independent government
agency, which was established in February 2009, Millbury police did not file a
report in the second fiscal quarter of 2012. The department was awarded $27,897
through the federal Department of Justice in July 2009. All recipients are
mandated to file quarterly reports detailing, in part, how the money has been
spent and how much is left.
‘Surprised’
“I’m kind of surprised that hasn’t been done,” Millbury
Police Sgt. Donald Desourcy said. “It might be an oversight.”
Desourcy, who said he had previously overseen the filing of
quarterly reports related to stimulus funding, said Officer Frank Piscitelli is
now in charge of approving the paperwork. Piscitelli was not immediately
available for comment and Provisional Chief Mark Moore was not at work.
Desourcy said former Police Chief Richard Handfield applied
for the stimulus funding, which was used to pay for the department’s Rape
Aggression Defense (RAD) classes and Drug Reduction Education and Mentoring
(D.R.E.A.M.) program. The latter was formerly known as Project D.A.R.E. The
money also helped pay for mountain bikes police have used on downtown patrols
and at the Shoppes at Blackstone Valley shopping complex in Millbury.
“I know no money was spent last year when I did the
quarterly reports,” Desourcy said. He estimated there is about $12-$13,000 left
from the original stimulus package.
“I can’t speak the chief’s intent,” said Desourcy. “He very
well could be funding one of those programs.”
Phone calls to state Sen. Michael Moore, D-Millbury, and
state Rep. Paul Frost, R-Auburn, were not returned. Frost’s district includes
Millbury.
However the Millbury Police Department spends it, the money
must be accounted for in the next quarterly report, according to Cheryl
Arvidson, assistant director of communications for Recovery.Gov. The agency
tracks the spending of all funding from Obama’s $787-billion stimulus package.
The Office of Management and Budget provides a list of recipients who do not
file quarterly reports, which they must do until the funding has been
exhausted.
Millbury police may well have just forgotten to file the
report, Arvidson said.
“We have found many instances of a relatively small amount
and that is an oversight,” she said. “But that’s why we post the names of
recipients.”
The latest reports have been filed, but the agency has not
yet compiled a non-compliance list for the past two quarters, Arvidsen said. It
could take more than a month to compile that data and double check it to ensure
no one is erroneously added to the list.