Raleigh Trammell is an ex-con. A man convicted of welfare fraud. Been to prison. Comes back and somehow ends up administering welfare programs again?
Uh, does this sound like a good idea? So when the FBI is called in to investigate the possibility that he, as Britney Spears says, “Oops, I did it again” [1] should we be throwing the book at Raleigh, or the people who were stupid enough to put him in charge of welfare money- again?
It would seem the real culprit is Montgomery County run by Deborah Feldman, however, no one seems to be pointing a finger at her. The paper seems to have no problem insinuating that the Reverend has misappropriated tax money- without wondering how and who thought that he was qualified to administer it:
Montgomery County, state and federal governments last year provided $357,637, for programs operated by the SCLC and the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance. Since 1999, the total taxpayer contribution to those groups has been at least $3 million.
Trammell is chairman of the national SCLC, a civil rights group founded in 1957 by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. He is also chairman of the Dayton SCLC chapter and executive director of the IMA.
Trammell and SCLC national Treasurer Spiver Gordon are under investigation by the national SCLC for allegedly embezzling $569,000.
National board member Art Rocker and others presented evidence to authorities in Alabama and Georgia and had planned to come to Ohio next week. Rocker applauded the FBI raid.
“It will show it’s going to be tough to pimp on the name of Dr. King any longer. This is a message to all civil rights leaders,” said Rocker, president of Florida SCLC. “If you’re not going to do your program, if you’re not going to do what you say, get out of the civil rights business…
It wasn’t the first time that Trammell’s home at 1505 Olmstead Place has been raided. In 1977, Trammell, then deputy director of the county welfare department, was indicted in a widespread probe into systemic welfare fraud and his home raided by sheriff’s deputies. He was convicted of larceny by trick and grand theft, and sentenced to 4-to-10 years in prison. He served a little over a year before being released on shock parole in 1980.
Trammell has headed the local SCLC since 1983. He became vice chairman of the national SCLC board in 1996 and national chairman in 2004….
A Dayton Daily News examination found the Dayton SCLC chapter and IMA took funding for a domestic violence shelter and food pantry that closed in August. For the last two years the county also failed to monitor the funding Trammell’s organizations received through the Dayton Urban League.
“We take full responsibility for our lack of full monitoring,” Feldman said, although she said the Urban League too failed to monitor its subcontractors.
The county funds a Family Formation case management and counseling program through the Urban League, which subcontracts with the IMA, SCLC and a third group. In 2009, $84,660 went to the IMA and SCLC for those services.
In response to questions raised by the Daily News, the county reviewed the program’s paperwork this week and found that the SCLC had failed to document whether services were provided.
Feldman said Thursday she removed the SCLC as a subcontractor, and told the Urban League it would not be paid until a plan is in place to better monitor how the money is spent.
The United Way of Greater Dayton also is auditing Federal Emergency Management Agency money that went to IMA and SCLC last year, said Jayne Klose, senior vice president of the local United Way, which oversees the funding.
The money was to pay for the shelter, the pantry and a feeding program. Since 2001 the SCLC and IMA have received $728,252 from the program, including federal stimulus money….
The county also spends about $40,000 a year in human services levy money for a feeding program the SCLC runs. Feldman on Thursday said she would cut off the funding in April unless the SCLC provides a full financial accounting and audit. She temporarily suspended that program Thursday
via Local officials halt SCLC funding [2].
But here is the shocker- even if Rev. Trammell was indeed a thief, stealing all of the $3 million in government funds that were allocated to the poor through his organizations over the last 10 years- without any second look by the people who handed him these contracts- he has taken less than Pam Morris, CEO of CareSource [3] took home in one year as “compensation” for overseeing the distribution of tax dollars to the less fortunate.
The difference- one is a black male, ex-con who was set-up to take a fall- and the other is a white woman who is beyond reproach.
Guess someone did better at remembering to spread the money around to other non-profits as opposed to friends and family.
Once again- there seem to be two different justice systems.
This isn’t a crime against the SCLC, it’s a crime against the voters intelligence to allow people like Feldman and Morris- to be overlooked, while we crawl up Trammell’s backside looking for poop. Sure there is poop- that’s what they want us to look at- while they’ve been getting away with crime after crime.
It’s time to look back at the deal for the Sears building downtown- where Deborah Feldman’s husband and father in-law made a killing selling a property they optioned for less than $1.2 Million to the City for over $8 Million for the Riverscape fountain. Yes, somethings stink in this city- but, the Reverend Raleigh ain’t the main cause of it.
Here is what the Dayton Grassroots Daily Show had to say:
Isn`t Feldman guilty of dereliction of duty in her office..??? Relieved of her duties without pay..untill investigated…by the FBI ..??
This situation is just a part of the whole systematic fraud waged against the residents of Montgomery County by an administration both weak in moral fiber and derelict in their duties that they receive a salary for. The fact that Feldman draws a salary as big as she does and is ineffective as she is in her position should be investigated by the FBI. I remember when the Sears Building sale went down and I thought well something stinks here.
In regards to Trammel his reputation proceeds him and he needs to be thrown back into jail and the key thrown away.
Okay, comment # 3 …. you’re just begging for people to comment, huh ?
Seriously though, this Trammel guy is frightening. And I’m not surprised. Ironically, I sent Gary Leitzell an e-mail pre-election about a related topic.
The customer (the County) knows where the money is going when it gives it to CareSource. Part of it will go to the CEO. It’s agreed to before any money is handed out. With the SCLC, the money did not go to the places it was supposed to go. That’s the difference between a criminal and a “highly compensated executive”.
CareSource gets a “cut” of the money they hand out. How they distribute that “cut” is no business to the government. If they feel they are getting too much then they can always reduce the amount they pay them.
God help us all if the governments start meddling with how businesses spend their revenue.
And yes, I cannot believe MC would give someone millions of dollars and have no idea where it went. That is a massive fail.
No that is business as usual. No tracking no accountability no way to track that the money benefited those associate with the enterprises in question. Just think about connecting the dots. Very hard to do with limited information but we do it well. The Churn that is done by the Sheriff and his appraisers is no different than the Churn by Turner, just harder to get too. Just check out this Parallel condition relating to Michael Turner and his wife on Earmarks.
However, If you review Turner’s initial run for Congress, when his wife was in Marketing, the Churn from the DCC and Raj Soin’s companies was very evident. One of Lori’s Major clients at the time was CTC, yes this same CTC. Now what Marketing did she do for this company for the fees collected? Well they paid off the mortgage on the house pretty quick and Raj’s company went public on Taxpayer dollars. Does Mike still have stock in an ESOP, which is not reportable under FEC guidelines? Where is the DDN? Blind deaf and dumb, on purpose.
I am not surprised at all. I learned shortly after the last major election that the Dems are no different from the Reps. They both lie to their base and tell them what they want to hear, and neither of them care anymore once they get that power. This is par for the course in government – it is all corrupt from the top to the bottom. (with the exception of the very few good represetnatives out there).
Would that statement lead you to oppose Sen Sherrod Brown’s proposal to slap a 50% tax on bonuses paid out by the companies The Recovery Act bailed out?
Raleigh Trammell is a crook and a thug, has been for years, that’s not news. People in County government need to be held accountable for the failure to exercise oversight of the monies funneled to the SCLC and Trammell’s other operations. Note too that Trammell and Shanklin have lead the religious right wing’s charge against laws designed to protect people because of their sexual orientation. Homophobia reigns supreme with the Interdenominational Minsters Alliance and was a big factor in Rhine McLins defeat .
@Gary Staiger- The IMA backed Whaley- who supported the sexual orientation legislation. Rhine lost IMA support because she had run out of favors to handout.
Had she won- Raleigh would probably still be getting his money.
^
Except Whaley is a straight white woman, not the rumored black lesbian like McLin. That’s the difference.
Gary Staiger, as usual, is spot on with this, and with his comments about lack of oversite/auditing of where their money went.
Nan’s not gay. The IMA IS homophobic. Tramell and Shanklin have been major players in attempt to unseat Cali SCLC chair because of sexual orientation issues.
Ridiculous to say Trammell would have still been getting his money if McLin had won…the money came from County and Federal funds, not city coffers. Your issues with McLin lead you into unsupported hyperbole. Stick to the facts.
@Gary Staiger. Trammell was a “Friend of McLin”- as in Daddy- how else do you explain that an ex-con got to play with all this money? Someone was vouching for him.
He’s been crooked for years- yet less than a month and a half after the house of McLin falls- they start looking….
Do the “sins” of the Father always flow to the Daughter? Your just speculating, and that hurts your credibility.
And insofar as when the feds and others started looking…that was happening before the election, he’s been on law enforcement radar for quite some time. You are correct about Ms Feldman and other at County level who should have been monitoring where the money went. I also have to wonder about the complicity of others, including possibly elected officials such as the County Auditor who had to have oversight responsibilities. It looks like the gang was paid for services not rendered from August thru Dec…that’s a lot of cash. The other real stinker is paying out 40K to feed just NINE individuals for a year.
The DDN had a good op-ed on the situation. Some of the comments about the way Trammell operated reminded me of that old Tom Wolfe essay “Mau Mauing the Flack Catchers”.
@Jeff of L- is this the editorial you speak of: http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/entries/2010/02/18/editorial_sclc_scandal_forces.html?cxtype=feedbot
Frankly- I thought it was the kid glove treatment.
And again- Trammell is small potatoes vs Morris
This guy is classic… From the Sunday DDN, it states “Jayne Klose, senior vice president of United Way of Greater Dayton, which administers FEMA money for the Virginia-based United Way Worldwide, said Trammell called Friday and asked how to appeal the policy board’s decision to cut off funding.“
OMG. Trammell has no shame. I suppose he thinks he still has the ability to intimidate NGO’s to line his pockets. On a side note , a certain Co Commissioner and her husband have regularly received “awards” from SCLC over the years…up until the point when other elected’s shut off the spigot & funding dried up. Suppose there may be a facilitating connection that needs exploring?
http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/crime/loss-of-fed-funds-buoys-local-support-for-trammell-559374.html?cxtype=fb_mlt ….Good article on Rev Shanklin relationship with Trammell.
Mary McCarty had a good op-ed on this too (county waived audit requirment for local SCLC and the Minsters Alliance contracts)(!):
http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/mccarty-a-true-pillar-of-community-can-withstand-scrutiny-559388.html
They are covering this now, but I must say the DDN is late to the game.
@ The house of McLin had to fall sometime..David you are correct she just ran out of favors to give. I was at an event and saw McLin and Trammell walking and talking..she was listening very intently like she was being given instruction to do something. My first thought other than they were both wearing ugly hats was there goes a thug and his pawn.
Again, I have to say Deborah Feldman and her deputy’s , department heads and such need to be grilled why they let this happen for so long.
Richard,
Guilt by association, in public? You have absolutely no proof of any kind of “conspiracy” Between Raleigh Trammell and the former mayor. Several facts contradict your accusations: #! Check the record. There is not, nor has there been any City of Dayton funds flowing to Trammell or his organizations; #2 Both the IMA and, covertly, the SCLC, actively opposed McLin’s re-election efforts, in part, for reason #1.
Baseless and hyperbolic statements like what you posted only damage your credibility. As the saying goes, “Your entitled to your opinion, but not to your own facts…”
its about time someone went after these racebaiters and their theft on this country. i hope this ass dies in prison and he should be sharing a cell with jesse jackson and al sharpton. its jus too bad james earl ray didnt have an extra bullett for jesse that day in memphis so many years ago.
Convicted: http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/verdict-reached-in-trammell-case-1384477.html
now we wait for the sentence.
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