The Monroe County Office of Public Integrity (OPI) audit has substantiated many of the concerns raised by Legislator Rachel Barnhart regarding the Community Resource Collaborative (CRC) and the Neighborhood Collaborative Project (NCP). The audit highlights critical issues in how these projects were handled, including gross mismanagement and potential criminal misconduct.
“Monroe County faces high levels of poverty and struggles with basic social services, yet the Bello administration awarded a significant contract to unqualified, and now proven corrupt, vendors,” said Legislator Barnhart. “This audit reveals that the contract was, at best, gravely mismanaged, and at worst, criminally mishandled. People in need suffered not just because of alleged fraud, but due to the Bello administration’s negligence.”
The findings align with Barnhart’s analysis published in March, which were based on her review of 4,000 pages of documents that the Bello administration released under the threat of a legislative subpoena. The OPI audit also mirrors issues Barnhart and Vice-President Mercedes Vazquez-Simmons outlined in a letter to the U.S. Attorney, coinciding with their vote to halt the NCP under a new fiscal sponsor.
A central focus of Barnhart’s analysis of the NCP involved for-profit vendors MC Collaborative, C3 Consultancy, and On the Ground Research, which were allowed to set their own budgets and award themselves contracts. This occurred because the NCP lacked legal oversight, functioning without an external board of directors. Recently, the State Attorney General identified these vendors as potentially ineligible to be creditors due to this self-dealing.
Despite Barnhart’s repeated warnings, the Bello administration persisted in engaging with these vendors under the same flawed NCP model. In April, the Legislature was asked to approve a new fiscal sponsor involving the same 12 member organizations and scope of work. The proposal was rejected by the Ways and Means Committee, with Barnhart and Vazquez-Simmons casting the decisive votes. Even after the vote, Legislators Barnhart and Vazquez-Simmons proposed reforms to increase oversight and potentially save the project, but their suggestions were ignored.
“We raised the alarm, but no one listened,” Barnhart said. “Instead, the administration tried to carry on with these vendors as if nothing had happened. Bello stuck to a narrative blaming everything on CRC’s Tina Paradiso, deflecting from his own negligence and the vendors’ misconduct. The community has been misled by the Bello-controlled EFPR ‘forensic review,’ which was neither forensic nor thorough.”
Legislator Barnhart continued, “Those of us who raised concerns were smeared, intimidated, and threatened by Bello and his allies. They were determined to pay these same people and maintain the NCP without proper oversight. The big question remains: why was this contract awarded in the first place? I hope federal authorities get to the bottom of what truly transpired. While I’m grateful for the Office of Public Integrity’s work, it did not do a thorough examination of Bello’s administration’s actions. This is not the end.”
Legislator Barnhart will propose reforms in the coming days after further reviewing the audit and seeking input from colleagues. She thanks the Office of Public Integrity for its review.
Timeline
This timeline illustrates a troubling pattern by the Bello administration and its allies, marked by obfuscation, intimidation, and retaliation against those raising concerns about the Community Resource Collaborative (CRC) and the Neighborhood Collaborative Project (NCP). It also highlights how County Executive Bello ignored multiple documented warnings about self-dealing and conflicts of interest, while maintaining the same NCP structure and vendors.
February 8 – County Executive Adam Bello and Father Tracy Executive Director Beatriz Lebron held a press conference announcing the suspension of CRC’s contract as the fiscal sponsor for NCP, citing financial mismanagement. Earlier that day, Legislator Rachel Barnhart publicly questioned how CRC, an unqualified vendor, was awarded the contract. During the press conference, Lebron, whose nonprofit is part of NCP and claimed it was defrauded by CRC, attacked Barnhart for raising concerns. Bello did not intervene.
February 11: Barnhart sent her first letter to the U.S. Attorney requesting an investigation into the awarding of federal funds to CRC.
February 15: Lebron posted a Facebook video falsely blaming Barnhart for her agency’s financial troubles. In the video, she claimed Barnhart was responsible for blocking any bailout of her agency as a result of her complaint to federal authorities. (Bello said he had also contacted authorities in his February 8 presser.) Lebron also disparaged Barnhart’s commitment to Black and brown communities. The post was later deleted.
February 23: Monroe County issued a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for a new administrator for NCP, maintaining the same 12 member organizations and signaling minimal changes to the project structure.
February 29: Deputy County Executive Jeff McCann defended the county’s handling of CRC and NCP during a radio interview, incorrectly stating that no ARPA funds were used on a property purchased by CRC. (A subsequent audit revealed ARPA funds were, in fact, used.)
March 18: A majority of legislators threatened to issue subpoenas if Bello failed to provide documents related to CRC, NCP, and the ARPA program.
March 22: Bello released a forensic review of CRC’s ARPA contract, revealing nearly a quarter-million dollars in missing funds. During a press conference, Bello accused Legislator Barnhart of spreading “conspiracy theories.” Barnhart and Legislature Vice-President Mercedes Vazquez-Simmons were excluded from a Democratic caucus briefing on the review at Bello’s direction.
March 24: Lebron said she was keeping “receipts” on Barnhart and threatened to “pull up” to the homes of Barnhart and Vazquez-Simmons in a Facebook post, which was liked by Assistant County Executive Ploncysnki-Figueroa and Monroe County Democratic Chairman Stephen DeVay.
March 26: Barnhart released an analysis of the documents provided by the Bello administration, uncovering evidence of potential self-dealing and a lack of oversight in NCP. The Bello administration did not respond to her findings.
April 1: Barnhart and Vazquez-Simmons sent a letter to the Bello administration, requesting information about contractors involved with NCP and their potential conflicts of interest. The Bello administration’s response failed to address their questions.
April 9: Lebron posted a Facebook video featuring the three for-profit NCP vendors in which they make admissions about self-dealing, including setting their own budgets, controlling the project via shared governance, and treating ARPA funds as “unrestricted.”
April 9: During the public forum portion of the legislature meeting, Lebron verbally attacked and allegedly physically threatened Vazquez-Simmons, resulting in a harassment charge against Lebron which was dismissed on a technicality for lack of a speedy trial.
April 10: Bello announced Starbridge as the new fiscal sponsor for NCP, with all original member agencies and vendors remaining part of the project. MC Collaborative’s Andy Carey gave an interview indicating he expects his company to remain part of the project.
April 30: Barnhart and Vazquez-Simmons sent another letter to the U.S. Attorney, requesting an investigation into CRC, NCP, and Monroe County. That same day, the Ways and Means Committee voted down the Starbridge contract. The Democratic caucus attacked Barnhart and Vazquez-Simmons in a press release, accusing them of having “personal agendas.” Bello’s spokesman accuses them of “putting politics ahead of people.”
May 9: Barnhart and Vazquez-Simmons submitted recommendations for improving NCP oversight and saving the project, but neither the administration nor the caucus responded.
June 4, 2024 – Tina Paradiso filed for bankruptcy on behalf of her company, Ampie Enterprises. CRC shared office space with Ampie, and the EFPR audit indicated comingling of ARPA funds with the business. In her hearing, Paradiso made misrepresentations about CRC and said CRC owes her more than a quarter million dollars.
July 24: Under the direction of CEO Anthony Hall, CRC sued its insurance company to recover losses from the debacle. One of the exhibits is a letter from an attorney for Paradiso that indicated significant mismanagement and lack of oversight. The insurance company maintained fraud is not covered.
August 8: Hall posted on Facebook, making disparaging comments about both Barnhart and Vazquez-Simmons, accusing them of not caring about Black and brown communities. The post was liked by Lebron and one of the NCP vendors, Jocelyn Basley of C3 Consultancy.
October 4: The New York State Attorney General filed to dissolve CRC and indicated that for-profit vendors may not be eligible for payment if self-dealing is confirmed. This is the first indication any governmental agency took whistleblowing complaints about the project seriously.
October 18: Office of Public Integrity released an audit into the Neighborhood Collaborative Project, confirming much of what Barnhart wrote back in March.