WEED AND SEED NEEDS TO MOVE BEYOND WOES

After a brief interruption of funding, federal Weed and Seed grant money again is flowing to the Southeast Missouri Weed and Seed program. But it comes only after the regional board scrambled to correct some matters the federal government didn't like, which is why the money was withheld.

The last matter to be taken care of to regain funding was the hiring of a new director. The regional board took care of that with the employment of Lisa Lane of Sikeston. She replaces Ron Skaggs, law enforcement coordinator for the U.S. attorney's office in St. Louis. Skaggs had been interim director since May after Calvin Bird resigned.

Those who administer the federal program, which is run through the U.S. attorney's office in St. Louis, didn't like the idea of a federal employee, Skaggs, running the regional program, although it was just on a temporary basis. Neither did they like some of the budget adjustments made by the regional program, the way it spent some of the grant money, and the lack of sufficient details it provided about community projects the local program carried out.

That seems a lot to find wrong with a relatively new program. And yanking all of its funding is a drastic measure to get the regional program to meet up to all the federal guidelines that must come with the $750,000 annually allocation.

Particularly discerning is the fact that an employee of the U.S. attorney's office was allowed to become interim director of the regional program to begin with. The U.S. attorney's office, after all, comes under the Justice Department, which administers the Weed and Seed program. If, in fact, the government disallows federal employees from running local Weed and Seed programs, why was Skaggs ever allowed to become interim director?

Weed and Seed's purpose is to weed out violent crime, drug use and gang activity, and fund community activities in targeted neighborhoods of five Southeast Missouri cities that come under the regional program. The cities are Cape Girardeau, Caruthersville, Charleston, Poplar Bluff and Sikeston.

The 15 local people who make up the regional board of directors have good intentions and can't be blamed for the problems. The program has a director who is paid well to make sure that the program follows all of the regulations.

In view of the non-compliance problems, Lane will find her work cut out for her. She should stay on top of where every penny goes and make sure the money isn't spent where prohibited. She and the board should strive to spend money where it will do the most good and not, as many federal grant programs do, to provide jobs and shuffle paperwork.

And unless the money can be spent where it will actually deter violent crime in targeted neighborhoods, Weed and Seed could well go the way of countless other federal grant programs that accomplished little, if anything.