WEED AND SEED: STILL A LOT OF PUZZLING QUESTIONS

Southeast Missouri's young Operation Weed and Seed program already has run afoul of the U.S. Department of Justice -- the very agency that initiated the program in this area.

Justice, which administers and funds the program, says the area Weed and Seed program hasn't followed all the federal rules. So it suspended funding for the $750,000-per-year program until it corrects all the problems.

The national director of Weed and Seed, Stephen Rickman, cited as problem areas the fact the program has no executive director, made unauthorized budget adjustments and inappropriate expenditures, and provided insufficient details on programs.

After the director resigned -- his resignation wasn't related to the suspension of funding -- an interim director who works for the U.S. attorney's office (part of the Justice Department) was named interim director. The interim director, Ronald Scaggs, took the blame for the problems, although he wasn't even involved with the local Weed and Seed when the problems are said to have taken place.

Weed and Seed is designed to weed out violent crime, drug use and gang activity in targeted neighborhoods of Cape Girardeau, Sikeston, Charleston, Poplar Bluff and Caruthersville. Over 100 communities nationwide participate in separate Weed and Seed programs.

What has happened to the local Weed and Seed program points out a flaw that exists in too many federal programs: The rules are overwhelming and often written as the programs are carried out. And it often overshadows the very purpose of the programs, which in this case is to clean up crime and drugs in neighborhoods where they are a problem.

Moreover, there remains to be some accounting of why a program initiated by the Justice Department and funded by the Justice Department has now had its funding suspended -- by the Justice Department.