The Calumet Township Trustee’s Office: Big player in the Poverty Industry If you had to look for one of the root causes in perpetuating Garys problem with its generational poverty, you wouldnt have to look too far past the Township Trustees office. While most of the State and Federal welfare programs have become further regulated, and have had safeguards installed to prevent many of the historic abuses, the Township poor assistance program, operates without anything but self-regulation. The assistance that this office provides is supposed to be temporary only. However, we find that in more cases than not, that many of the individuals it provides relief to have been receiving its assistance for years--sometimes decades! And what makes it all the worse is that these individuals for the most part would not qualify under State or Federal rules. The ability to dispense this economic lifeblood to such a large number of recipients, enables the chief dispenser to wield a great deal of political power, as these many-times-undeserved benefits are completely within the discretion of the Departments administrators. The power to turn the faucet of survival on or off provides a pretty heavy hammer with which to command votes. So this department, which many years ago may have started out as a good and necessary function of local government, has been corrupted--as so many other originally well-meaning departments have--to become nothing more than a political tool. It is fairly obvious, that under the decades-long dynastic rule of Dozier Allen, that it became systemically corrupted. Unfortunately, its more recent officeholder, Mary Elgin--who promised reform--in fact was elected based on the promise of reform--has been quite slow to initiate any substantive, meaningful changes. With no more than a cursory review of those receiving its benefits, we find the familiar names and more often than not, records of these recipients getting benefits far beyond the time periods for which these benefits were designed to be provided. Its oversight of compliance has been lax and subjective. Many of its beneficiaries treat it as a welfare system for which they are not compliant. It has become a sort of catchall for many that have been rejected by the State or Federal government programs which are better regulated. It has become another form of local government that has come to reward its recipients for doing the wrong thing. It most definitely perpetuates the culture of poverty and dependence. It shouldnt have to take all of the blame, though, the public school system and the total breakdown of the local economy--which the various administrators of the city are nearly fully responsible for--should also each shoulder their share of the blame. The Township is one of the few truly independent fiefdoms based in the city. They are a separate taxing unit and therefore dont have to kneel to any sitting mayor or city council. Because of this relative independence, they are able to bargain their substantial political base with other units of government--as they are all aware of the political might it controls. Its entire function is based on the adage: You scratch my back and Ill scratch yours—(or whomevers youd like me to.) There is little righteousness involved here. This complicated system of eligibility, likely accounts for the exorbitant cost of benefits distribution. The administrative costs of the distribution of these benefits account for the majority of its revenue. For every dollar of poor relief, there is $1.64 in administrative costs. Even the worst run charities that wind up on the Ten-o-Clock News or splashed across the front page of the Chicago Tribune have a better rate than this! Township poor relief, as well as the Calumet Township government have long outlived their intended purpose and usefulness. They are both counterproductive to advancing Gary residents and others under its wing. It seems to nurture, if not reward, this entitlement mentality. When children observe either one or both parents abusing the system, it can only send a wrong message to them. When the breakdown of the nuclear family is virtually a prerequisite for receipt of benefits, the system has some obvious design flaws. Receiving assistance from the Township is likely a highly subjective process, one which it is more important to know someone or be connected to someone than to actually meet any objective requirements to be eligible for the assistance programs it oversees. According to their figures, administrative costs account for at least 62% of their total budget. That means that out of their entire budget, that is supported by our tax dollars, that less than 38% actually reaches its intended target. And if fully audited, you can rest assured that this number would be even smaller. And besides that, under further review, wed surely find that in many cases, its intended targets are not compliant or are otherwise ineligible to receive these benefits. This might explain why youll find more Land Rovers, Escalades, Navigators, and Mercedes parked in the projects than youd find in Hyde Park or Burr Ridge. One reason that both the Trustee herself and the board members have justified these ridiculous administrative costs is this: They have stated on numerous occasions, that if it werent for these make-work jobs-- that would describe nearly the entire payroll of hundreds of employees--that these employees would likely be found on the other side of the counter, now applying its benefits instead of dispensing them. So like the city, the Trustees office, has become no more than a self-consuming jobs program. And rather than devote any of its budget to job training, it utilizes as much as it can squeeze, to employ as many as possible, all the while admitting that the majority of its employees are unsuitable to find any alternative employment. Utilizing this strategy, it has lost before it has begun. Upon the introduction of the tax caps, Ms. Elgin was forced to cut into her budget. The apparent ease by which she was able to cut 3.8 million from her budget, speaks volumes about the fat it has been rife with (unfortunately, she still needs to cut a heckuva lot more). The same would hold for the City. They cry and cry about cutting their budget like its impossible--like theyve already done all they can. Nothing could be farther from reality. The truth is they havent even begun. They havent even fully accepted the reality that they have to. Mary Elgin refuses to cut her budget as is required to bring it into balance. Rudy Clay refused to cut his budget to bring it into balance. And now Karen Freeman-Wilson seems to have not the slightest inclination to bring her budget into balance. To the contrary, she has instead hired a bunch of her relatives, friends, and cronies at exorbitant salaries; never before seen in the city. She has demonstrated ever-so clearly that she has no authentic desire to make meaningful cuts. The New Day she talked of prior to getting elected, has turned out to be no more than a big pay day for her and her very closest circle of BFFs. This situation is typical of how the poverty industry operates. A few individuals who have anointed themselves to be the elite class preside over an ever-increasing group of impoverished individuals entirely dependent upon this “elite” group for their existence. They are beholden to them. They surely feel compelled to vote for them—whether or not this choice represents their free will. So when some individuals ponder: Why do the same people continue to get voted back into office? This mindset of utter dependency may help to explain the phenomenon. It is also why nothing will ever get substantively better in Gary as long as this mindset persists.
Posted on: Wed, 23 Oct 2013 02:04:58 +0000
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