Woonsocket City Council Leaders Battle Mayor Baldelli-Hunt Over Control of Federal CDBG Funds

Woonsocket City Council Leaders Battle Mayor Baldelli-Hunt Over Control of Federal CDBG Funds

The Woonsocket City Council leaders have issued a letter of objection to the release of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds.

Woonsocket is a designated entitlement community funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to participate in the City Council President John Ward and Vice President Jon Brien sent a letter to Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt on Monday.

Read the Letter in the Slideshow Below

“We write to express our objection to the release of funds based on the following. The newspaper advertisement and so many other reports related to the CDBG program indicate that ‘notice sent to…appropriate… local agencies.’ There was not one instance throughout the process of developing this Annual Action Plan that the Woonsocket City Council was specifically notified of the development of the plan,” writes Ward and Brien.

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They continued, “We object based on some of the choices made for the application of CDBG Funds included in the Action Plan referenced in the advertisement of November 15, 2019, and the disturbing practice of bypassing the legal authority of the city council to consider and approve all appropriations of funds from whatever source they are received.”

City Council Blasts Baldelli-Hunt

Ward and Brien write, “The city council cut funding for the dog pound and dog park, you placed it int he CDBG program. The city council cut spending for road improvements specifically because there was an amount planned for it in the CDBG program, so you added that back and more for sidewalks in the DCBG plan.”

They continued, “The city council added funding for the Senior Center, so you cut all funding for Senior Services. Sojourner House had t take the city to court to received prior-year CDBG funding and won, so they were cut off like a bad child from the parents will. This isn’t a Community Development Plan, it’s a repudiation of the city governance structure to “get your way” no matter what the city council thinks and to punish though not in your good graces.”

Read the Full Letter in the Slideshow Below