“People didn’t do their jobs — that’s the bottom line,” City Councilwoman Evelyn Powers said.
The Roanoke Police Department overspent a $300,000 state gun violence prevention grant by close to $100,000, an audit found, putting the city on the hook to pay the difference during tight budget times.
Beyond the overspending, the probe found a lack of oversight put teens in the care of mentors with no evidence of proper background checks, staff followed improper procurement, and a new city computer software system didn’t work.
A few youth participants worked at a mentor’s business and, because the work benefitted the business, it was an obvious conflict of interest, according to the audit. Some youths were asked to do jobs, too, that would not be considered a career-building exercise that was mapped out through the grant program, according to the probe…