The federal government wants to talk to Macon officials about hundreds of thousands of dollars in grant money that the city received during Mayor Jack Ellis' administration, a city official said Friday.
The city received a letter from the Department of Justice about the issue some time after current Mayor Robert Reichert took office, said Andrew Blascovich, director of external affairs for Reichert. Blascovich, who said he has not seen the letter, added that he is "fairly certain" the government wants to discuss taking back $350,000 of a $1 million grant that funded faith-based programs administered by the city several years ago.
Blascovich said the city is not releasing the letter to the public while officials try to determine if it is exempt from Georgia's open records laws. The Telegraph requested a copy of the letter, and the city has three business days to respond.
That Justice Department grant, managed by the Macon Police Department in 2002 and 2003 under former Police Chief Rodney Monroe, is officially called the Safe Schools Initiative. Locally, it has been more commonly known as the faith-based initiative.
The federal government sent $1 million to the city, which funneled much of it to various church youth programs. The grant was one of several city initiatives that a Bibb County grand jury investigation targeted before District Attorney Howard Simms handed over the inquiry to the U.S. Attorney's Office in July 2005.
Since the investigation was turned over to federal officials, several area preachers and former city employees have told The Telegraph that they were contacted by an investigator asking questions about the Safe Schools Initiative.
In September and December 2006, the Justice Department subpoenaed city finance records, including documentation of every purchase card transaction made by Macon police from June 2002 through July 2004 - when faith-based money was being spent.
Earlier that year, the police department had gotten a separate subpoena demanding documentation for all federal grants that the department received from fiscal year 2002 through 2004.
Blascovich said Reichert plans to set up a meeting with U.S. Attorney Max Wood in the next couple of weeks to find out additional details.
"The mayor wants to gather more information," Blascovich said.
Wood declined comment Friday, and Department of Justice officials familiar with the grant program could not be reached. An attempt to reach Ellis also was unsuccessful.
Telegraph staff writer Travis Fain contributed to this report, which includes information from The Telegraph's archives.
To contact writer Matt Barnwell, call 744-4251.
