$830,000 in job funds to Oakland questioned

Written by: Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau on Wednesday, April 21, 2010

“ Federal stimulus dollars intended for job creation in Oakland were spent instead on trips to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and a Concord water park, rent, church repairs, bus passes, salaries and car allowances, according to a state review released Tuesday. “ Oakland received more than three million dollars for summer youth programs, But more than $830,000 of the money received under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act from February to December 2009 was not properly accounted for. Also, state auditors found that the city inflated the number of jobs that were actually created. In Oakland, the stimulus funds were passed down from a city agency to a nonprofit agency, the Oakland Private Industry Council. The state reviewed this agency and saw that there were major accounting issues. Some of the money that was drawn from The Recovery Act where not traceable. There are also field trips to amusement parks and a picnic that was paid with the stimulus plan. The state auditors also found problems resulting from the fact that the Industry Council used federal dollars to pay for existing expenses, as opposed to supplementing those costs. The inspector's review does not impact Oakland's ability to collect the remaining $3 million it was awarded.