A community organization in Shaw led by a polarizing neighborhood figure must make six computers, purchased with taxpayer dollars, available for public use or face a probe by District authorities.
An investigation by the D.C. auditor into the East Central Civic Association’s use of funds provided by Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2C found the group “did not confer a direct public benefit of a reasonable character” to area residents, contrary to D.C. law.
“If ECCA fails to place the computer equipment in a location accessible to the public and fails to repay the grant funds to ANC 2C, the Auditor will refer this matter to the Office of the Inspector General for further investigation and request assistance from the Office of the Attorney General in recovering the funds,” the audit states.
The computers were purchased with a pair of grants totaling $6,691, one awarded Jan. 12, 2005, and the other Dec. 6, 2006. Leroy Thorpe, ECCA leader and former ANC 2C chairman, won the most recent grant a month after he was voted out of office.
The audit found that the ANC did nothing wrong in awarding the money, and Thorpe on Friday said “praise Allah” for his exoneration. But the report also found that the ECCA maintains the computers in private homes for the benefit of the organization, which the D.C. Code prohibits.
“We don’t have an office, so you can’t move something if you don’t have an office,” Thorpe said.
Two dozen area residents requested the investigation in December. In their complaint, they claimed the expenditure was “a final raiding of the ANC treasury by an outgoing commissioner aided by his allies.”
ANC 2C Commissioner Alex Padro said Friday he and his colleagues must urge the ECCA “to follow the recommendations of the auditor’s office.”
