State investigating grants to nonprofits with ties to Dwight Evans

Officials at the center of a confidential state probe are keeping their mouths shut as the Pennsylviania inspector general looks into two Philadelphia nonprofits with ties to state Rep. Dwight Evans, for alleged mishandling $1.5 million in state grants since 2006.

The state has frozen funds to the Urban Affairs Coalition and the Ogontz Avenue Revitalization Corp. Officials at the Department of Community and Economic Development confirmed Monday that funds to the two nonprofits had been frozen, but declined to say why.

Reports published over the weekend allege that the funds were frozen as part of an investigation into the mishandling of state grant monies by the UAC and the OARC.

Both groups have deep ties to Evans, who did not return calls seeking comment for this story.

They were also the recipients of quite a bit of state largesse during Evans’ 20-year tenure as chair of the Democratic Appropriations Committee. Since 1999, OARC has received $28 million in state grants, and UAC has gotten about $24 million.

Evans was once one of the most powerful men in Harrisburg. However, in 2010 he was ousted as committee chair by members of his own delegation, angered at how closely he controlled access to state grants.

OARC, a nonprofit dedicated to education, economic development and housing in West Oak Lane, was founded in 1983 by Evans.

A receptionist at OARC’s office said its CEO and president, Jack Kitchen, was out all week for the holiday and would return the Tribune’s call next week.

Evans also has close connections to the Urban Affairs Coalition and its president and CEO Sharmain Matlock-Turner. The group manages between $20 and $50 million annually, and has administered $390 million in state funds since 1999, Matlock-Turner said.

Investigators are trying to figure out if the coalition ignored grant rules, failed to keep track of grant monies and intentionally went around bidding regulations in its handling of a $400,000 grant for the North Philadelphia East Falls Neighborhood Initiative. State officials said coalition officials doled out the money in increments, cutting checks for $10,000, the maximum exemption for bidding rules.

In a statement released Monday, Matlock-Turner said she has made multiple requests to the state seeking the report that has served as the basis for media reports on the investigation, and declined to comment on the investigation until she had seen it.

“We have again requested a copy of the state audit and will explore every avenue to secure it,” she said. “It is tempting to respond to these accusations; it is painful not to. We must have a copy of the report so that we can respond to the inaccuracies in the article, review all charges and respond in detail.”

The Urban Affairs Coalition has engaged Ross Associates, a Center City public relations firm, to handle questions from reporters, and principal Bill Miller said after seeing the report UAC officials would “be eager to discuss it.”

In the period being investigated by state officials, a total of $1.5 million has been called into question. The report, cited Sunday by the Inquirer, said state officials were concerned with poor bookkeeping practices and a “lack of compliance” with the terms of the grants.

The largest of the grants being investigated was a $1 million allocation, administered by the UAC, to Harlee Manor, a for-profit nursing home operated by Leland Beloff, a former city councilman.

For-profit ventures are ineligible for state funds.

Beloff did not respond to requests for comment made through the nursing home.

Another of the grants was $365,000 that went to the Rev. James Hall, pastor at Triumph Baptist Church in Hunting Park, and an aide, Frances Stallings. After they each received a lump-sum payment in 2010 they continued to get checks – $3,333 to Hall and $2,812 to Stallings – until July 2011.

In documents apparently included in the state investigation, the monies were intended to fund several church programs, including one called “Praise and Dance” which requires participants to attend church.

State funds are also ineligible for projects tied to specific religious beliefs.

According to the audit, there was “no evidence or supporting documentation to validate what the two employees were doing . . . through the entire grant period.”

A recording at the church said its administrative offices were closed Mondays and no one responded to a voicemail left Monday morning.

The Inquirer based its report on a confidential document that has been seen by few others.

The Tribune, on Monday, was unable to get a copy of the report.

An official at Inspector General Kenya Mann Faulkner’s office told the Tribune that investigative reports were not made public.

“The office of inspector general does not release our investigative reports,” said James H. Timko, special assistant to the inspector general.

It was a fact that angered Matlock-Turner.

“I am outraged that – after 20 years of working in partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED), and with leaders in Harrisburg as a successful funds manager – we are being maligned in the Philadelphia Inquirer by a report that has been unavailable to UAC,” she said.

To comment, contact staff writer Eric Mayes at 215-893-5742 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

The Ogontz Avenue Revitalization Corporation has secured more than $2 million in funding for a third corridor development project in Northwest Philadelphia.

The funding will be used for the development and enhancement of the Stenton Avenue Business Corridor. OARC secured the funding through the city of Philadelphia’s request for proposals process. The city of Philadelphia is committing up to $1.25 million for streetscape improvements along Stenton Avenue between Allens Lane and Sedgwick Street, and from Barringer to Wister Street. The commonwealth of Pennsylvania also committed Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program funds in the amount of $1 million for the streetscape project.

The project will be designed and managed by OARC.

“It has been proven that aesthetically appealing commercial corridors are safer and more desirable for shoppers and new businesses. While these improvements improve the appearance of the corridors, they also make it safer,” said Jack Kitchen, president and CEO, OARC.

“History has proven that when we have implemented streetscape improvements, new businesses have followed. This means the creation of jobs and the stabilization of a tax base. When new businesses move in they hire workers, pay corporate, payroll, real estate, business privilege and use and occupancy taxes that will ultimately be reinvested within the region and state.”

The funds will be used to add streetscape features such as decorative street lighting, stamped concrete crosswalks and sidewalks, and enhanced signage.

OARC knows firsthand that streetscapes can have a significant effect on how people perceive and interact with their community.

OARC completed the Ogontz Avenue Streetscape Project in 2011, a $2.6 million venture funded in part with a $1.3 million grant from the city of Philadelphia Commerce Department and matching funds from the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As a result of this project, Ogontz Avenue now has new pedestrian lighting with banners and hanging baskets, decorative crosswalks, benches and landscaping along a ten-block stretch from Middleton Street to Cheltenham Avenue. These improvements benefit the Ogontz Avenue Business District by encouraging people to walk, which can help reduce automobile traffic, improve public health, stimulate local economic activity, and attract residents and visitors to a community.

In addition to the funding for the Stenton Avenue streetscape, the city of Philadelphia is committing up to $250,000 for storefront improvements to properties along Stenton Avenue within the areas found between Allens Lane to Sedgewick Street, and from Barringer to Wister Street. Representatives from OARC are currently meeting with business owners on Stenton Avenue to roll out the Facade Improvement program.

OARC was recently awarded a contract with Philadelphia LISC to provide storefront marketing assistance to 10 businesses on Ogontz Avenue. During 2012, the corporation will work directly with individual businesses to educate them about creating appealing window displays.

Leaked audit is character assassination, Rep. Evans’ supporters say

With Councilwoman Marian Tasco leading the charge, several council members rose in council chambers on Thursday to defend state Rep. Dwight Evans and blast Gov. Tom Corbett, his administration and the media for an uncirculated report, leaked to the press, which seems to indicate financial improprieties by two local non-profits and by implication Evans.

“If there is a real smoking gun, where are the charges?” asked Tasco at Thursday’s city council meeting. “Or, is it the true aim to kill off these effective organizations by rumors, allegations and legal fees? Death by a thousand cuts.”

Several members spoke in support of Evans and against the administration and local news outlets. Tasco was the most vocal in her disapproval, her voice at times quivering with anger, as she spoke for nearly 10 minutes on what she said was a campaign against Black Philadelphians.

She was speaking about a report by the state inspector general’s office probing alleged financial irregularities at the Ogontz Avenue Revitalization Corp. and the Urban Affairs Coalition.

“The administration refused to share [the report] with the organizations named in the report,” said Tasco. “Why wouldn’t the Corbett administration share the audit and work to correct irregularities?”

The Tribune was unable to obtain a copy despite repeated requests.

Tasco said her office had not seen the report either, nor have OARC officials, nor has Evans, whose name has been linked to the report in press accounts.

“Nope,” replied Jack Kitchen, president and CEO of the Ogontz Avenue Revitalization Corp. He then referred the Tribune to a letter from an attorney representing OARC to the governor’s chief counsel, Christopher C. Houston.

“OARC is being tried in the press without prior notice of the claims against it,” wrote attorney S. David Fineman from the Center City firm of Fineman, Krekstein & Harris. Fineman said the Inquirer declined to provide a copy of the report. Fineman went on to call the newspaper story a “one-sided media assault.”

Few people have seen the actual report that served as the basis for the media reports.

Evans said he had not tried to get a copy of the report, adding that he prefers to focus on his legislative agenda rather than get involved in mudslinging.

Tasco, too, said she had made no effort to get the report, but felt it should be made public. Bill Miller, a media spokesman for the Urban Affairs Coalition, did not respond to questions about the report on Thursday. In the past he has said that no one at the coalition has seen the report.

The governor’s office referred reporters to the inspector general’s office, which responded with a statement.

“The Office of Inspector General reviews all complaints received and does not target or single out any agency, vendor or grant recipient,” said Inspector General Kenya Mann Faulkner, in the statement. “Complaints come from a variety of sources, including private citizens, private businesses, state employees and other government entities. Once completed, investigative reports are provided to the involved state agencies and, when appropriate, could be referred to law enforcement authorities or the State Ethics Commission.”

The office again declined to release the report.

It was leaked to the Philadelphia Inquirer, which has run several stories based on the document that has not been made public. It was part of a campaign to “demonize those who craft solutions,” Tasco said, that was “deliberately misleading” and “full of inferences and innuendo.”

The councilwoman said she detected a deliberate campaign against Blacks by the Inquirer and one against Evans, a prominent Democrat who for years was head of the House appropriations committee, by the Republican administration.

She said that Evans had made powerful enemies during his tenure because of his dedication to the Black community.

“At the core of these battles is his dogged determination to improve the lives of the disadvantaged … through fair access to government resources, resources that heretofore have been denied to minority communities,” she said. “He learned that holding the purse can affect public policy decisions.”

The entire community benefitted, she said.

“Philadelphians, Black, white, Latinos and others … are still today benefitting from appropriations decisions made by Rep. Evans,” Tasco said, ticking off a list of projects that included the Pennsylvania Convention Center, the Barnes Collection, Jewish museum and Please Touch Museum.

In Philadelphia, there is the belief that Blacks are unfit to lead, she added.

“There is a notion that the African-American community is not entitled to participate in decisions on allocating revenue of government resources, that we need to somehow be more closely monitored, that government in our hands is somehow more corrupt,” Tasco said. “The press perpetuates this myth.”

The story would have been different if the politicians had been white, she said.

“If he were a white legislator and this were a white neighborhood the Inquirer’s headline would read, ‘Committed State Legislator Turns Neighborhood Around After 30 Years of Hard Work.’”

The reports also angered council members Cindy Bass and Maria Quinones Sanchez.

“He [Evans] has supported the Latino community,” Sanchez said. “Not because we could vote for him, not because he could gain from it politically but because it was the right thing to do, supporting impoverished communities.”

According to published details of the report, the state was looking into irregularities since 1999, OARC has received $28 million in state grants and UAC has gotten about $24 million.

OARC, a non-profit dedicated to education, economic development and housing in West Oak Lane, was founded in 1983 by Evans.

The Urban Affairs Coalition manages between $20 and $50 million annually and has administered $390 million in state funds since 1999.

State investigators were reportedly trying to figure out if the coalition ignored grant rules, failed to keep track of grant monies and intentionally went around bidding regulations in its handling for a $400,000 grant for the North Philadelphia East Falls Neighborhood Initiative. State officials said coalition officials doled out the money in increments, cutting checks for $10,000, the maximum exemption for bidding rules.

In the period being investigated by state officials, a total of $1.5 million have been called into question.

To comment, contact staff writer Eric Mayes at 215-893-5742 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

OARC challenges Pa.’s refusal to release designated funds

Fissures have begun to appear in the wall of silence surrounding an investigation by the state inspector general, with a suit filed this week by the Ogontz Avenue Revitalization Corp. in an effort to free up funds frozen as a result of the still secret state probe.

“OARC has been kept in the dark as to any specific reasons for [the Department of Community and Economic Development’s] conduct in cutting off and/or terminating grant funds, while being strung along in a process of requests from DCED for more information,” alleges the suit filed Monday in federal court by attorney S. David Fineman.

Many officials connected to the investigation and suit remain mum. However, details are sure to emerge in federal court as OARC press its case against the administration of Gov. Tom Corbett.

The nonprofit is asking a judge to force the state to honor its contracts with OARC, and asking the court to find that the administration has abused its discretion in withholding funds.

The contracts in question were awarded during former Gov. Ed Rendell’s administration, but were frozen as the result of a probe last year by Inspector General Kenya Mann Faulkner.

Officials with DCED said they were aware of the suit but declined to comment.

“The administration is aware of the claims,” said spokesman Steve Kratz. “But because it is an ongoing matter we cannot comment directly.”

As a result of the investigation, the state froze funding to OARC. The inspector general’s office was looking into the handling of grants totaling $1.2 million approved in 2010. It was unclear this week how much the state had withheld. The money was to flow to OARC in small increments.

In court papers, OARC alleges that administration officials “laid siege to OARC by denying it the use of funds while feigning an elongated investigative process in which no answers are ever given.”

OARC President Jack Kitchen did not return phone calls seeking comment on Thursday. Messages were left with an answering service. A “for sale” sign was hung on the porch of the organization’s building on Haines Street in Northwest Philadelphia.

State Rep. Dwight Evans, who is closely linked to two local organizations, reportedly named in the inspector general’s investigation, also failed to return phone calls.

In addition to OARC, the probe included an investigation into the Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition.

OARC’s suit is based on that report, details of which were published in November after a copy was apparently leaked to the Inquirer last fall.

The Tribune has been unable to obtain a copy of the report.

In November, an official at Kenya Mann Faulkner’s office told the Tribune that investigative reports were not made public.

“The Office of Inspector General does not release our investigative reports,” said James H. Timko, special assistant to the inspector general.

That secrecy provoked outrage from the head of the Urban Affairs Coalition.

“I am outraged that — after twenty years of working in partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) and with leaders in Harrisburg as a successful funds manager — we are being maligned in the Philadelphia Inquirer by a report that has been unavailable to UAC,” said Sharmain Matlock-Turner, the group’s president and CEO in a statement released last year.

No one from the group has yet seen the report.

“We still have not been given the report,” said William Miller of Ross Associates, who is handling the media for UAC. “We are having contract discussions with DCED, however we have not seen the report.”

Since 1999, OARC has received $28 million in state grants and UAC has gotten about $24 million.

Evans founded OARC in 1983; the nonprofit dedicated to education, economic development and housing in West Oak Lane.

The Urban Affairs Coalition manages between $20 and $50 million annually, and has administered $390 million in state funds since 1999.

State investigators were reportedly trying to figure out if the coalition ignored grant rules, failed to keep track of grant monies and intentionally went around bidding regulations in its handling for a $400,000 grant for the North Philadelphia East Falls Neighborhood Initiative. State officials said coalition officials doled out the money in increments, cutting checks for $10,000, the maximum exemption for bidding rules.

In the period being investigated by state officials, a total of $1.5 million has been called into question.

Contact staff writer Eric Mayes at (215) 893-5742 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

The Ogontz Avenue Redevelopment Corp deserves an opportunity to see and respond to a state report on allegations of financial irregularities.

Last week several city council members rose in council chambers to defend state Rep. Dwight Evans and criticize Gov. Tom Corbett and his administration and local news outlets for a report leaked to the media, which seems to indicate alleged misspending or mismanagement of state-grant funding by OARC, a non-profit founded by Evans.

The Inquirer reported that “the Northwest Philadelphia nonprofit founded by State Rep. Dwight Evans misspent or mismanaged portions of state grants worth $12 million since 2006, violated bid rules, and made questionable real estate purchases with taxpayer funds, according to a state investigation.”

Councilwoman Marian Tasco called for the leaked report to be made public.

“If there is a real smoking gun, where are the charges? asked Tasco at last Thursday’s city council meeting. “Or, is it the true aim to kill off these effective organizations by rumors, allegations and legal fees? Death by a thousand cuts.”

Councilwomen Cindy Bass and Maria Quinones Sanchez also spoke out against the report on OARC, a nonprofit organization founded by Evans for education, economic development and housing in West Oak Lane.

The report by the Office of Inspector General has been reported on several times by the Philadelphia Inquirer which has obtained the report and other local news outlets including the Philadelphia Tribune. The Tribune was unable to obtain a copy despite repeated requests. The Tribune has reported on the confidential report because it deems newsworthy the allegations against an organization founded by Evans, the former chair of state House Appropriations Committee and a former candidate for mayor of Philadelphia, and governor of Pennsylvania.

Evans said he had not tried to get a copy of the report, saying he prefers to focus on his legislative agenda.

OARC has not seen a copy of the report, said Jack Kitchen, president and CEO of the non-profit organization.

An attorney representing OARC has sent a letter to governor’s chief counsel, Christopher C. Houston, requesting a copy.

“OARC is being tried in the press without prior notice of the claims against it,” wrote attorney s. David Fineman from the Center City firm of Fineman, Krekstein $ Harris.

The governor’s office has referred reporter to the inspector’s general’s office, which has responded with a statement.

“The Office of Inspector General reviews all complaints received and does not target or single out any agency, vendor or grant recipient,” said Inspector General Kenya Mann Faulkner, in the statement. “Complaints come from a variety of sources, including private citizens, private businesses, state employees and other government entities. Once completed, investigative reports are provided to the involved state agencies and, when appropriate, could be referred to law enforcement authorities of the State Ethics Commission.”

The inspector’s general response is insufficient. OARC has lost funding and has been harmed by allegations indicating financial irregularities. Evans and OARC have done a great deal of good in revitalizing a once blighted community.

However if Evans and OARC have doing something wrong then it needs to come out and they should face the consequences.

In fairness, OARC, Evans and others named deserve to be able to obtain copy of the report so that they could appropriately respond to the allegations.