The state Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development has canceled its plan to give a Tacoma nonprofit $1.1 million to provide temporary housing for recently released prison and jail inmates.
The agency withdrew conditional approval of funding for Citizens for Responsible Justice because of the group’s inability to fully document several elements from its grant application, including its nonprofit federal tax status, its claim of close working relationships with neighbors and local police, and the availability of housing.
State officials also noted the group’s lack of a City of Tacoma business license, and they questioned the group’s financial status.
Officials informed Citizens for Responsible Justice of the decision Thursday, and sent a letter to members of the Tacoma City Council.
“We have taken seriously the issues raised by some of the local citizens in Tacoma and by local government,” Juli Wilkerson, director of the Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development, wrote to council members.
On Tuesday, Mayor Bill Baarsma and eight of Tacoma’s nine City Council members signed a letter urging the state to rescind funding for Citizens for Responsible Justice. Councilwoman Lauren Walker told her colleagues that the group has an inactive nonprofit status, and that there were “serious inaccuracies” in its grant proposal.
Walker was pleased with the state’s decision.
“It’s been my assertion from the beginning, ‘Only the best for Tacoma.’ Citizens for Responsible Justice does not fall into that category,” Walker said Thursday.
Sally Perkins, a Hilltop resident who helped lead citizen opposition to the group’s funding, said the state did the right thing.
“I’m delighted that CTED was able to do the review and verify the concerns the community raised,” Perkins said.
Perkins said officials need to examine how the group managed to get as far in the state’s process as it did.
GROUP DISAPPOINTED
Carl Jones, a member of the board for Citizens for Responsible Justice, said his group was disappointed by the decision.
“However, we will move forward with the same 150 years experience in community and criminal justice issues that made us the ideal candidate for the grant,” Jones said, referring to the collective experience of board members.
The group operates a house for ex-convicts at 811 S. 11th St. in Tacoma, and intends to expand throughout the state, he said. It counts former Washington prisons chief Joe Lehman and former Walla Walla Penitentiary Warden Bob Kastama among its board members.
Jones said his group learned some valuable lessons from the experience, namely that “Tacoma and Pierce County officials are not prepared to overcome their negative connotations of the so-called ‘dumping ground’ issues.”
The grant would not have brought any additional ex-convicts into Pierce County, Jones said.
State officials announced the grant in December. Citizens for Responsible Justice was one of four nonprofits selected statewide for a pilot program aimed at helping offenders returning to the community.
It’s not clear what will happen to the money that would have gone to Citizens for Responsible Justice.
Will Graham, assistant director of housing for CTED, said the state might give the money to another Pierce County organization that applied, but it’s possible it could go elsewhere.
Graham said the decision to give money to Citizens for Responsible Justice was conditional and no contract was signed. Officials still needed to perform due diligence, and they would have done so regardless of the outcry from Tacoma residents and politicians.
AREAS OF CONCERN
The state identified six main areas of concern. They include:
• Failure to document partner organizations listed in its original proposal.
• Failure to substantiate claims of close working relationships with neighbors and local police.
• Failure to provide proof of current 501(c)(3) nonprofit status.
• Incomplete documentation of houses under contract for purposes of the program.
• Lack of a Tacoma business license.
• Inconsistent numbers regarding the group’s financial status. In January, Citizens for Responsible Justice verbally reported an annual operating budget of approximately $200,000, the state said. In written information, the group indicated it had not filed an Internal Revenue Service Form 990 because its annual budget is less than the required $25,000.
State Sen. Mike Carrell, R-Lakewood, issued a statement Thursday praising CTED’s decision to “un-ring the bell” and respond to the concerns of the community.
He said that he and state Sen. Debbie Regala, D-Tacoma, worked behind the scenes to help CTED out of a difficult situation.
Regala believes CTED would have reached the same conclusion even without the outcry from Tacoma.
Regala said she got to know some of the group’s members during a task force that she and Carrell put together to examine corrections issues.
“It’s a volunteer organization that simply maybe got in over its head,” Regala said.
Jason Hagey: 253-597-8542
blogs.thenewstribune.com/politics
JOIN THE DISCUSSION | Register here
We welcome comments. Please keep them civil, short and to the point. ALL CAPS, spam, obscene, profane, abusive and off topic comments will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be blocked. Thanks for taking part — and abiding by these simple rules. A thorough explanation of rules of conduct can be found in our Terms of Service. If you have any questions, including why your comment may not be showing immediately after you submit it, be sure to visit the commenting FAQ.