9 March 2022
Dear Mayor Jones:
I write these letters to you as the figurehead and representative of all the people in the City of St. Louis. People sometimes ask me if I have heard any response from you? I have not. Nor does your office always send me an autoreply. The most personal and direct response I have gotten from your office so far was when I emailed to let them know what the Twitter link on your contact page was to Lyda Krewson.
I write these letters and share them on social media and with media outlets because I hope that other City residents are also asking you these questions, and urging you take up the mantle of true leadership and solve some of these systemic problems that plague the city.
But I am asking for you to directly respond regarding the $130 million in ARPA funding that has either disappeared or sits unused. For some reason the city chose to have charities handle this. I have not been able to get a list of the agencies that were entrusted with issuing these checks, only that Salvation Army and Catholic Charities were two of them, and that there are “at least” ten other agencies.
I applied for rent relief and for the $500 check in November of 2021. My gross income in 2020 was $18,800. (I worked for most of 2020, until mid-October.) My gross income for 2021 was about $12,000. (Plus $2500 in private loans and $1000 in credit card debt that I am still carrying. LiHeap paid $150 of an overdue electric bill in September, and in December I got emergency food stamps- although I do not think either counts on my taxable income.) I was not employed for most of 2021, save some contract employment and other 1099.
I was eligible for both programs. The website said that my application would be processed in three weeks. I waited four weeks, to be sure. When I called, shortly before Christmas, I learned that the United Way had processed my application, but that no agency had taken my case yet. In fact, they were still distributing applications submitted before September. (At the time I assumed of 2021, now I am not so sure.) I was told it would be at least the end of January before I could expect to hear anything, and maybe not even then.
I called in January, still nothing with my application. I called again recently and was told that the entire database had been removed from the United Way within the last few weeks, that they had no way of checking my status, and could not tell me if I would receive assistance or if I was going to receive a $500 assistance check. They also didn’t know when all the $500 checks would be release. If I was rejected, I would just get an email. I asked what if my check was issued and then lost or stolen? Would I be notified that it had been sent? That was not known either.
The United Way told a media outlet that they had received the maximum number of applications in the first 4 days of the period. I assumed that since I applied on the first day, and I meet the criteria, that I would be receiving a check? The person I spoke with didn’t know.
I am not blaming the United Way or these charities for this fiasco. If there are 12 charities working these applications, and I estimate- since the information is not being reported- that there are at least 40,000 applications submitted, and that since September 1st, there has been about 110 workdays (20 per month, minus 10 days of holidays), that each agency would have to process 30 applications per day.
That’s a lot for these charities, especially since the city does not seem to be providing any support or auditing. It does not seem that any parameters or coherent system was employed. And the machinations are completely opaque to the public. Why? And now you are withholding even more funding? I do not understand.
I lived in Los Angeles during the Northridge earthquake. I was also one of the contractors hired to work processing 365,000 applications for SBA loans and FEMA grants. L.A. County had a nine million population at the time, and it was well prepared. City government buildings were quickly converted into processing centers, with groups of workers (like me) numbering in the thousands, working two shifts a day doing data entry, verifying information, and contacting applicants and field workers.
I also worked in escrow in 2003 and 2004, during the height of the sub-prime mortgage bubble that would later cause the worldwide financial collapse. I was just a receptionist, but all the documents that came through the office passed through my hands. I worked in an office with one officer that had 9 assistants, and two part-time assistant officers.
I’d happily handle 33 applications a day myself, and I am sure there are many other city residents that could be recruited on a short-term contract basis. In fact, I bet there are many that, like me, would not need the assistance if they were hired to administrate it.
And as I have pointed out in my previous letters, now would be a good time to set up a real emergency response plan for future pandemics, and natural and other disasters. Hire city residents and make sure people in every neighborhood are trained.
I insist that your office immediately publish transparent records of how many applications have been received, how many have been processed, and how much has been spent on administrative costs. Also, what guidelines and criteria are the agencies using? How is the city auditing the assistance and disbursement of funds?
Thank you for your time. I look forward to your response.
PS Have you given this matter as much attention and publicity as the Loop Trolley has been given? It’s extraordinary how much effort has been put into that loser project. Let Joe Edwards pay back the DOT Grant. Even if the Trolley is free, it won’t be used enough to justify the expense. Something I have no doubt will bear out this summer. But in the meantime, can the ARPA money get the same attention? Please?
