Politics

Vincent Gray Left Hanging after Machen Resignation

Published

9 years ago

March 27, 2015

Oakland Post

Former D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray (Courtesy photo)

Special to the NNPA from the Washington Informer

(NNPA) – Months into his only term as mayor, Vincent C. Gray surfaced as a central figure in a far-reaching corruption probe, and it turned out that this – as well as leaks and innuendo – were all that was needed to undermine his efforts to win re-election to a second term as chief executive of America’s capital city.

Now, with U.S. Attorney Ron Machen Jr.’s announcement last week that he’s leaving office – without returning an indictment or charges of any kind against Gray – some are more convinced that Machen engaged in a witch hunt.

“I had heard rumors that he said he was leaving, and he did nothing (to resolve the) Gray investigation. This was his highest-profile case,” said Chuck Thies, Gray’s 2014 campaign manager. “For him to leave this high-profile case dangling is reckless. He has already smeared Vince Gray’s’ name. He should be able to say he’ll return indictment or throw out the case.

“He owes it to more than Vince Gray; he owes it to city. He doesn’t care about D.C. and politics. He came out with his dog and pony show, interjected himself into an election and altered the result.”

Thies, a political consultant and former talk show host, said he’s incensed at what Machen did.

“He intimated that Vince Gray was trying to steal an election. There’s a vicious irony in all this. How does Machen dish out justice? He stole the election of 2014. That’s what he did. It’s not up to him to decide what the punishment is. It’s a prosecutor’s job to present evidence and let a judge or jury decide.”

Three weeks before the April 1 Democratic primary, Machen held a news conference to announce that he’d hammered out a plea deal with local businessman, super donor and political kingmaker Jeffrey E. Thompson, in which the maverick pleaded guilty to channeling more than $660,000 into a shadow campaign to pay for voter registration drives, materials and other election efforts for Gray during his 2010 run for mayor.

Most damning was Thompson’s assertion that Gray knew about the shadow campaign and met with him at least twice, requesting large sums of money to finance his campaign.

At the news conference after Thompson’s appearance in federal court, Machen said it was the tip of the iceberg and promised that many more heads would roll. Machen talked about Gray’s purported involvement in a scheme in which Thompson funneled more than $2 million in illegal donations to local and federal campaigns over the course of six years.

“Jeff Thompson’s guilty plea pulls back the curtain to expose widespread corruption,” Machen said at the time. “His plea gives the citizens of D.C. an inside look at the underground, off-the-books schemes that have corrupted election after election, year after year.”

Gray, 71, has always been steadfast in his denials, asserting that he did nothing wrong, adding that Thompson lied to save his own skin.

Machen promised that Gray would be indicted, letting one of the District’s more popular mayors in recent years twist in the wind. Gray supporters argue that if Machen had enough evidence to indict him, he would have done so long ago, and those advocating for fairness and impartiality are asking who will restore Gray’s good name if no indictment ever comes.

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Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

Published

2 days ago

April 26, 2024

Oakland Post

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MAYOR BREED ANNOUNCES $53 MILLION FEDERAL GRANT FOR SAN FRANCISCO’S HOMELESS PROGRAMS

San Francisco, CA – Mayor London N. Breed today announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded the city a $53.7 million grant to support efforts to renew and expand critical services and housing for people experiencing homelessness in San Francisco.

Published

1 week ago

April 20, 2024

Oakland Post

Mayor London Breed

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Contact: Mayor’s Office of Communications, mayorspressoffice@sfgov.org

***PRESS RELEASE***

MAYOR BREED ANNOUNCES $53 MILLION FEDERAL GRANT FOR SAN FRANCISCO’S HOMELESS PROGRAMS

HUD’s Continuum of Care grant will support the City’s range of critical services and programs, including permanent supportive housing, rapid re-housing, and improved access to housing for survivors of domestic violence

San Francisco, CA – Mayor London N. Breed today announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded the city a $53.7 million grant to support efforts to renew and expand critical services and housing for people experiencing homelessness in San Francisco.

HUD’s Continuum of Care (CoC) program is designed to support local programs with the goal of ending homelessness for individuals, families, and Transitional Age Youth.

This funding supports the city’s ongoing efforts that have helped more than 15,000 people exit homelessness since 2018 through City programs including direct housing placements and relocation assistance. During that time San Francisco has also increased housing slots by 50%. San Francisco has the most permanent supportive housing of any county in the Bay Area, and the second most slots per capita than any city in the country.

“In San Francisco, we have worked aggressively to increase housing, shelter, and services for people experiencing homelessness, and we are building on these efforts every day,” said Mayor London Breed. “Every day our encampment outreach workers are going out to bring people indoors and our City workers are connecting people to housing and shelter. This support from the federal government is critical and will allow us to serve people in need and address encampments in our neighborhoods.”

The funding towards supporting the renewal projects in San Francisco include financial support for a mix of permanent supportive housing, rapid re-housing, and transitional housing projects. In addition, the CoC award will support Coordinated Entry projects to centralize the City’s various efforts to address homelessness. This includes $2.1 million in funding for the Coordinated Entry system to improve access to housing for youth and survivors of domestic violence.

“This is a good day for San Francisco,” said Shireen McSpadden, executive director of the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. “HUD’s Continuum of Care funding provides vital resources to a diversity of programs and projects that have helped people to stabilize in our community. This funding is a testament to our work and the work of our nonprofit partners.”

The 2024 Continuum of Care Renewal Awards Include:

$42.2 million for 29 renewal PSH projects that serve chronically homeless, veterans, and youth
$318,000 for one new PSH project, which will provide 98 affordable homes for low-income seniors in the Richmond District
$445,00 for one Transitional Housing (TH) project serving youth
$6.4 million dedicated to four Rapid Rehousing (RRH) projects that serve families, youth, and survivors of domestic violence
$750,00 for two Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) projects
$2.1 million for three Coordinated Entry projects that serve families, youth, chronically homeless, and survivors of domestic violence

In addition, the 2023 CoC Planning Grant, now increased to $1,500,000 from $1,250,000, was also approved. Planning grants are submitted non-competitively and may be used to carry out the duties of operating a CoC, such as system evaluation and planning, monitoring, project and system performance improvement, providing trainings, partner collaborations, and conducting the PIT Count.

“We are very appreciative of HUD’s support in fulfilling our funding request for these critically important projects for San Francisco that help so many people trying to exit homelessness,” said Del Seymour, co-chair of the Local Homeless Coordinating Board. “This funding will make a real difference to people seeking services and support in their journey out of homelessness.”

In comparison to last year’s competition, this represents a $770,000 increase in funding, due to a new PSH project that was funded, an increase in some unit type Fair Market Rents (FMRs) and the larger CoC Planning Grant. In a year where more projects had to compete nationally against other communities, this represents a significant increase.

Nationally, HUD awarded nearly $3.16 billion for over 7,000 local homeless housing and service programs including new projects and renewals across the United States.