Officials of the embattled Ogden Area Community Action Agency, seeking to keep a $165,000 block grant, successfully pleaded for another chance to fix their ailing agency.
"It's been a multitude of so many problems that it has been overwhelming. But we are almost there," Don Carpenter, the new head of the OACAA board of trustees, said Wednesday night.He and other board members persuaded Ann Kagie, Utah block-grant coordinator, to reconsider canceling a $165,000 block grant, one of two major OACAA funding sources that are endangered because of dismal performance reviews.
They convinced her that the agency's board and staff are willing to follow stricter budgetary and management guidelines.
Kagie warned them that this could be the last chance for the agency. "There will be no more stonewalling," she said.
The OACAA was incorporated in 1965 as a private, nonprofit body to serve programs for low-income families in Weber County. One of the largest services is Head Start, which prepares 3- to 5-year-olds for public school. The agency also oversees a day care, home weatherization, a food pantry and a variety of services funded by community-development block grants.
Carpenter, a Weber State University professor, agrees with federal and state officials who have charged that the agency is riddled with sloppy management and poor morale.
Carpenter became chairman in January following the long controversy over the actions of the OACAA's executive director, H.C. Massey.