EOB may be granted new life

Timothy Pratt and Dan Kulin

Tuesday, March 14, 2006 | 7:11 a.m.

The city of Las Vegas is set to follow Clark County in helping to bail out the financially troubled Economic Opportunity Board with $200,000 more in taxpayer funds.

However, unlike the county, which eight days ago gave the agency $250,000 - money conditioned on a review of the group's books and a payback plan - the city's funds would come via a no-strings-attached grant.

City officials - particularly council member Lawrence Weekly, who also serves on the EOB's board - say the funds are needed for the agency to continue providing services such as senior daycare, childcare for poor families and drug abuse treatment.

The nonprofit organization, set up more than four decades ago to fight poverty, has suffered years of federal reviews accusing it of financial mismanagement and shoddy treatment of the poor. In recent weeks, its difficulties have brought it close to outright collapse.

So local taxpayers are being asked to throw the EOB a lifeline for the second time this month, with the local dollars being targeted for rent, electricity, phone and garbage collection - expenses supposedly covered by federal and state funds.

Nobody seems to know what happened to the money the first time around, and the two local grants could prevent that question from being answered.

In at least one case of misuse of taxpayer funds pardoned by the county's taxpayer-funded bail-out, the state several weeks ago wrote the EOB to tell the group it would cut its $5.5 million childcare grant because the agency had not paid the program's rent.

But then the county's $250,000 "cure(d) our breach of contract," a state official said at the time.

EOB Executive Director Lester Murray did not return a call seeking comment.

The Las Vegas funding request to be voted on Wednesday came from Weekly, who said he is asking his fellow council members for $200,000 "to keep it in the ballpark with the county funding."

The city money would be used to boost the EOB's "overall general budget and help reduce the deficit," Weekly said.

"The staff made a major mistake and we acknowledge that," Weekly said. "(But) when you look at the single mothers that need their services, the seniors, the drug addicts, why not help this agency get back on its feet?"

Those services could be provided by county or state staff on an interim basis and then turned over to other nonprofit organizations, but that could result in an interruption of services, officials say.

The county funds that the EOB received on March 7 will help pay for more than 50 computer pages of bills, including, in one case, money owed the county itself. One item lists a bill of about $3,250 owed to the Clark County Health District.

The bills also include at least $18,000 owed to Nevada Power, $20,000 owed to Ikon Office Solutions and $23,000 owed to Sprint.

In exchange for providing the $250,000 to cover those and other bills, Clark County will be permitted to examine the organization's books and its board.

The other string tied to the county funds specifies that the EOB cannot apply for $250,000 to pay for services for a three-year period - a way of paying back the money.

The city funds, however, would be free of such conditions.

"Ours is a grant," Weekly said. "We'll get it back from them helping people."