The New Orleans Inspector General’s Office says the city officials may improperly spent Wisner Trust funds, possibly violating state law in the process.
According to the OIG’s report released on Thursday, someone filed an anonymous complain with the office about a $1 million contract between the city government and the Center for Employment Opportunities for grass cutting and blight abatement. The OIG says the complainant was worried that the allocated funds, which came from the Wisner Trust, could not be spent in the one-year time frame and that the funds would be mismanaged.
The OIG’s report says the city violated the state constitution by paying the Center for Employment Opportunities $500,000 in advance of the organization completing any work. Furthermore, the OIG found that the city government could not accurately track the organization’s work. That’s because, the OIG report says, the city improperly made quarterly payments to the Center for Employment opportunities without verifying any work had been completed.
