Kinda hard to tell.

Local attorney Tom Ashcraft asked a straightforward question: Which local non-profits and churches are getting funds from DSS? What he got back was a 1311-page, non-responsive data dump of all vendors receiving funds. Still, there are some interesting things to note at first glance.

Things like the raft of Diners Club accounts floating around DSS. Like the $99,000 worth of charges to a Target charge card, including late fees and adjusted balances, which indicate disputed transactions or returns. Like the $3 million or so for Medicaid transportation and paratransit — that’s what I thought CATS paratransit was for, at least that is what the 2007 transit tax repeal campaign taught me. Like the dozens of parking tickets and several false burglary alarms — the latter at $500 a pop — worth thousands of dollars. Like the $250K to the Urban League ($25K per month) for a “Youth Empowerment Program.” And the $300K in U.S. Postal Service charges, a line item that was utterly abused in the House Post Office scandal of the early 90s.

All of these expenses might be completely legitimate. The problem is that the county’s inchoate data dump leaves any curious observer in the dark as to the ultimate destination and justification for millions in DSS spending. And that is just not acceptable.

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