LOOSE LIPS:Are the Peaceoholics Broke?

Oh snap!
Go HERE to read the full Washington City Paper Loose Lips column.

Excerpt:

Is the District working on a Peaceoholics bailout?


Two city officials tell Washington City Paper the anti-violence group—whose founder, Ron Moten, is one of Mayor Adrian Fenty’s biggest boosters—is broke, and that the administration is trying, quietly, to find some $400,000 to pay them. According to these sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Fenty and aides have been looking for money for the Peaceoholics in the budgets of the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services and the D.C. Children & Youth Investment Trust Corporation.

What’s a little unclear from talking to city officials is whether the money supposedly involved is money the organization is already owed, or whether it would be new cash to stave off a financial crisis at the group. Peaceoholics have gotten $10 million in grants and loans from D.C. government and other agencies since 2005, for various purposes; Fenty critics say it’s mostly been wasted, but the mayor has defended Moten’s work. The mayor has some power to move money around quickly and directly, but overstepping it has landed him in hot water before.

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