Community Action Partnership of Greater Dayton oversaw the local work in Montgomery, Greene, Butler, Warren, Preble and Darke counties.
The percentage of local inspections was the lowest of the 34 Ohio nonprofit agencies that administered weatherization projects throughout the state.
The federally-funded weatherization work provided up to $6,500 in new insulation and hot-water heater upgrades to homes of low-income occupants.
Ohio Inspector General Randall Meyer also found “errors of wrongdoing or omission” and “the appearance of impropriety” in the Ohio Department of Development’s failure to keep tabs on the program beginning in 2009.
The state tracked the amount of money the local agencies spent, rather than keeping an eye on quality, resulting in some instances in “shoddy” work that had to be wastefully re-done multiple times, Meyer said. The Inspector General did not directly investigate the work Community Action Partnership of Greater Dayton oversaw, but said his office received complaints elsewhere.
A Cincinnati community action agency has been ordered to repay $630,000 that was misspent through the weatherization program.
Meyer said his office wants to hear from anyone with concerns over weatherization work in their home in the Dayton area.
“The other part of our report that really I think is the harmful part is there was no way of tracking complaints about contracts or anything like that,” Meyer said. “There were supposed to be hotlines and telephone surveys and the ODOD never followed through on those to see if the low-income individuals received quality work.”
Even with little state oversight, Community Action Partnershiop of Greater Dayton still inspected each of the 3,000 homes where work was done, spokesman John Bennett said. Inspections uncovered some issues and the work was fixed, he said.
The weatherization program helps keep people warm while saving them money on their energy bills, Bennett said. The local organization still has another $1.5 million in stimulus money to spend on the program before it expires in March 2012.
“The Inspector General’s report is what it is. But we feel we have done a good job weatherizing these homes and provided a great benefit for the community,” Bennett said.
About the Author