LOCAL WEED AND SEED PRESIDENT SAYS HE EXPECTS IMPROVEMENT

SIKESTON -- With more input from Weed and Seed's national office, the Southeast Missouri version of the anti-crime program should experience some improvement, said the president of the regional board.

Several issues relating to organizational structure were discussed at a Thursday board meeting, which was attended by two representatives of Weed and Seed's Washington, D.C., office, said Bill Adams, board president and Poplar Bluff police chief."We had been floundering largely because we weren't getting any direction," Adams said.

Weed and Seed is an initiative of the U.S. Department of Justice designed to fight crime in specifically targeted neighborhoods. More than 200 Weed and Seed sites operate nationally.

Southeast Missouri Weed and Seed, which began receiving its $700,000 grant last December, had its funding suspended for most of September and October. The national director of Weed and Seed cited the use of a federal employee as interim director of Southeast Missouri's program and several documentation errors as the reason to suspend funding.

Suspension of funding is rare for Weed and Seed sites, said Susan Tashiro, the newly appointed program manager for Southeast Missouri Weed and Seed.

In a meeting closed to the public, the board clarified its policies for employment and organization, which Adams said should have been done a long time ago. The two representatives of Weed and Seed's national office were helpful in this, he said."Now we have a clear chain of command, who needs to report to whom," Adams said.

Tashiro, who supervises several Weed and Seed sites nationally, was not appointed to oversee Southeast Missouri because of recent problems, she said. All Weed and Seed sites have their individual shortcomings, she said. Several of the steering committees for the five cities that make up Southeast Missouri Weed and Seed have experienced personnel issues that they were unable to deal with because of unclear policies.

Determining what authority the regional board has in these matters will be helpful with present and future issues, said Mike Price, an assistant U.S. attorney who advises the board.