Two dozen residents of the Shaw and Mount Vernon Square neighborhoods have filed a complaint with the D.C. auditor alleging their advisory neighborhood commission conspired to give away thousands of dollars to community groups with strong ties to commissioners.
The issue arose after two of four ANC-2C commissioners voted Dec. 6 to award $3,000 to the East Central Civic Association for two laptops and a digital video camera.
The expenditure, according to the complaint, was either a “misallocation of funds” or “a final raiding of the ANC treasury by an outgoing Commissioner aided by his allies.”
The complaint, which seeks an investigation into the spending and a stop on the $3,000 check, was filed Dec. 20 with D.C. Auditor Deborah Nichols.
“There’s nothing wrong with an ANC allocating money for a computer, but it does have to be for a public purpose and at this point it’s not being done,” said Cary Silverman, a lead complainant.
Leroy Thorpe, the outgoing ANC-2C chairman, assumed control of the ECCA Dec. 4 — two days before the ANC grant vote.
The association has received grants before, according to the complaint, including a $3,691 check on Jan. 12, 2005, for the purchase of four desktop computers. It also received two donated laptops from a developer.
Other ANC grants to neighborhood groups with ties to commissioners Thorpe, Doris Brooks and Barbara Curtis have been awarded over the past two years, the complaint contends, with little demonstrated community benefit.
Thorpe, an 18-year ANC veteran who is well-schooled in parliamentary politics, said the ECCA laptops are needed for meetings and other civic reasons.
The group’s application met all of the qualifications, he said; there’s no limit to the number of grants one can receive and as a member of both organizations, Thorpe said he abstained from the vote.
“There was no conflict of interest at all,” he said.
Commissioner Alexander Padro, who voted against the ECCA grant, said the award represented “questionable decision-making” but was not illegal.
Padro is executive director of Shaw Main Streets, which also has received money from the ANC.
