It appears when Washington, D.C.'s city council members aren't using their public servant positions to pad their own wallets or spreading anti-Semitic conspiracy theories about Jews controlling the weather, they're forgetting to do their job. Recently, their negligence screwed deserving educational local non-profits out of millions of dollars which could have helped underprivileged youths.
The Washington Post says, "the city lost eligibility for more than $3.5 million in AmeriCorps funding for three education nonprofits: City Year, Reading Partners and the Literacy Lab," after the city agency responsible for submitting the proper paperwork AmeriCorp missed not one, but two deadlines which could have secured the money.
Serve D.C. is tasked with making sure the three aforementioned non-profits punctually comply with federal deadlines. The three non-profit submitted their paperwork with ample time, but the city could not get the paperwork in by the January 30th deadline. The city blames technical errors, something that the federal agencies dispute.
As the Post's Fenit Napali reported, "Samantha Jo Warfield, a spokeswoman for the Corporation for National and Community Service...said in a statement that her agency’s 'records show that Serve D.C. contacted the National Service Hotline for assistance, and that no unresolved issues remained as of January 30, 2019.'"
But, even if there were electronic issues the city could have asked for an extension on the application by January 31. "D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), the city’s representative to Congress, and the office of Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D)," failed to ask for that extension. They -- or somebody in DC's local government -- submitted the extension request on February 1.
What's even stranger though is that last week several ServeDC employees were fired. At first, the mayor's office said they were fired for failing to submit the paperwork on time. But, when asked by the Post why would they be fired technical duties were to blame, the city backtracked and said the terminations were not linked to the millions lost because of the missed deadline.
Now, DC councilman Brandon Todd is asking the federal government to grant the city a reprieve. “I urge the Corporation for National and Community Service to consider these extenuating circumstances and grant an extension to Serve DC so that District residents in-need can continue to benefit from this federal support." Todd also noted that he plans on asking how Serve D.C. will ensure this never happens again.
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