July 24, 2023
Media Release
Contact: Dejia James, 716-507-7295, dejia@ppgbuffalo.org

Community Organizations File Complaint to the US Treasury Department Inspector General on the City of Buffalo’s American Rescue Plan Funding Process and Allocations

This morning, Partnership for the Public Good and several of our partners submitted a complaint to the Department of the Treasury Inspector General, and copied Congressman Brian Higgins and Senator Chuck Schumer, asking for an investigation into the allocation of City of Buffalo American Rescue Plan funds.

Our complaint is based on a growing body of evidence that this process was mismanaged and in violation of the federal procurement rules that the City was required to follow. Additionally, the Administration’s recent request to move an additional $60 million of American Rescue Plan funds to revenue replacement, without explanation, violates the spirit of and guidelines for this federal COVID recovery funding.

No funding awards have been made to date, with organizations now waiting nearly eight months for the outcome of their applications to the City’s project funds. Several organizations have reported highly inappropriate comments during their application interviews and subsequent conversations with City staff. Discussions on the record in Common Council, with the City’s Finance Commissioner, have raised similar concerns.

At the press conference, PPG released a copy of their complaint to the US Department of Treasury Inspector General. 

Andrea Ó Súilleabháin, Executive Director at Partnership for the Public Good, said:
“Organizations went through this process in good faith, but conversations with members of the Mayor’s administration and Common Council have shown that determinations about the funds—about the timeline of funding and which organizations would be selected as recipients—have occurred in inappropriate settings and without the rules that normally apply to RFPs for human service agencies.”

Sheri Scavone, CEO of the WNY Women’s Foundation said:
“Representatives from the WNY Women’s Foundation and our partner, Harvest House, were deeply disturbed by the City’s ARPA grant and interview process delays and lack of transparency in relation to releasing critical funds to assist Buffalo resident’s post-COVID. Our proposal was focused on strengthening the lives of women and children in poverty living primarily on the City’s East Side. Fifty-four percent of Buffalo’s families living in poverty are headed by single mothers. Our proven initiative provides a holistic framework that offers a paid education pipeline from education to employment. During the formal interview process, our work was not respected and worse, dismissed, when one of the panelists on the formal interview committee stated that what we proposed was “just fixing broken women” and that our work should not be compensated because of our women-centered mission. Buffalo’s families deserve better than this.”

Murray Holman, Executive Director of the Stop the Violence Coalition, explained:
“Our community said, ‘Well, what happened to the funds?’ And my answer is we’re waiting. But crime does not wait in our community. Violence does not wait in our community.”

Pastor James Giles, President of Back to Basics Ministries, explained:
“Our community has been waiting for the funds promised to address violence issues. Our biggest complaint was nobody was telling us anything. You know, we went through all of this, we jumped through every hoop that was put out there. It was a difficult process. And nobody is giving us information.”

Tim Chen, Executive Director of Grassroots Gardens of WNY, said:
“Funding our City’s budget is important. However, balancing the budget should not be at the expense of community groups, who received a commitment from government officials that this funding was available for application, only to see the opportunity withdrawn after almost a full year of waiting.”

Julio Enrique Flores, Executive Director of El Museo and Member of Frontline Arts Buffalo, said: “To have the rules changed on us mid-play, that’s devastating for organizations that are already struggling.”

Heather Gring, Board Member at Locust Street Art and Member of Frontline Arts Buffalo, said: “Removing the funding at the end after extensive labor from frontline arts organizations is incredibly upsetting and hurtful to the communities who need support the most.”

Read the complaint submitted to the Department of the Treasury Inspector General here.