HomeMy WebLinkAbout1979 03-06 CETA was mess, city manager says THE DISPATCH CRETA was mess,
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city manager says
By SCOTT CARLSON EXTRA
Staff Writer
Barry Evans last week joined eastwind
Maplewood as its new city man-
ager after having come from a
Fla."Not that there isn't stress
Florida gov in city management jobs but this
ernment con-
'° sortium,which was just incredible.
The reason?Evans,as the
itt.i.k't the worst mess consortium's executive director,
said he found no one had been
I saw in my
life." keeping records on how$95 mil-
THERE lion in CETA funds were being
WAS MORE sent.
�� p"They didn't have any files or
..,.*ilikiiiiejt.
0 CETA (Cstress in the records of contracts,"Evans
om "They They just had boxes
'oipEmplosive (of paper)sitting around."
Employment
Carlson Training Act) Evans noted that other prob-
lems included:
job than any job'I've held,"Ev- —An unwieldy administrative
ans told the Dispatch about his
one year stay in Dade County, See Wind,Page 2(E)
Continued from Page 1(E) ?
structure which had 12 to 15 ad-
ministrators directly reporting F
to the executive director.
s
—Some people among the 130
employees who came and left
work when they wanted. € .
—The consortium's granting ,
of funds to public and social
agencies without assessing
where money needed to be
appropriated. `
EVANS SAID that for 13
months he often worked 80 hour
weeks to correct the problems. ick ��j
"We had to reorganize the Y
whole thing,"Evans said."We
set up a structure with a deputy :
director and four division
chiefs."
Meanwhile,Evans said he re ?
vamped the consortium's fund-
ing process by first determining Barry Evans
social needs and then drawing
specifications for agencies to been used for people to get jobs.
meet in qualifying for grants. But Evans added:"A lot of the
Aside from the consortium's staff was required simply be-
own special problems,there was cause you have to do all that
an unusual amount of red tape, paperwork."
Evans said."The Department of However,.as Maplewood's new
Labor's reports are so extensive city manager,Evans won't en-
that nobody can abide by all of counter as much paperwork or
them." bureaucracy.He said there may
EVANS CONTENDS that the be some minor modifications to
extensive government regula- Maplewood's administrative
tions waste public funds. "We staff but"it's not anything that
spent$5 million for my staff(in will happen immediately.
Dade County),"he explained. "A "We seem to have a capable
lot of that money could have staff."