Wagner
I’ve been meaning to talk to you
about your verification on the Broward Co. dune funding request. Greg and
I had the pleasure of meeting with Mr. Setti at the conference and his
presentation of the project was significantly different than his funding request
(and the information you provided). It was also brought to light that his
management of grants has recently been questioned.
Becky
Roland
Environmental
Manager
850-922-7857
Administrator paid $467,000 from
grants
By Buddy Nevins,
Posted January 28 2007
An obscure countywide environmental group persuaded
voters in November to consider expanding its powers and profile. But even its
chief supervisor concedes the agency's financial oversight is lax and "we
haven't had all the checks and balances we should have."
"We are going to improve," Supervisor Henry Graham,
chairman of the Broward Soil & Water Conservation District, said
Monday.
A key concern centers on payments to the group's
administrator Russell Setti, a real estate broker who oversees grants for the
state-created public agency. The state and federal grants are used for
irrigation conservation programs, beach restoration and other projects.
Since 2000, Setti has paid himself more than $467,000,
using money from the grants even though he had no written agreement allowing him
to do so, according to documents obtained by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Setti, who contracts his services to the district on a
part-time basis, said he didn't get a salary but instead took a portion of the
grants. Under an informal arrangement he had with the group's five elected
supervisors, he said he both paid himself an administration fee and collected
money left over from the grants.
The arrangement was an incentive to be more cost
efficient, he said.
The district has no guidelines on how much or how little
he gets paid from each grant.
"There are no maximums or minimum payments ... I'm like
a general contractor. I make all the decisions on the job," said Setti, who
couldn't say how many hours a week he worked for the group.
The Soil & Water Conservation District was created
in the 1970s after real estate investors asked the Legislature for more control
over conservation programs affecting their land. Last November, when the
district asked countywide voters in a nonbinding referendum to expand its
powers, more than 70 percent approved.
One day before the election, Setti signed a contract
with the district, formalizing his agreement. He did so after Supervisor Brian
Lewis began questioning the informal arrangement.
Setti said there were no abuses under the old
arrangement. He said Graham signed all checks written to him since
2000.
Graham conceded Monday he and the board had too few
financial controls and said he would suggest a series of measures at next
month's meeting to tighten the oversight.
Auditors working for the district in 2005 criticized the
agency, citing a lack of safeguards over the writing of checks and the payment
of bills.
Despite the call for new procedures, nothing changed,
said Setti and supervisors.
Setti, a
According to district documents, Setti was paid between
$71,902 and $235,973 a year for 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2004. Three other years --
2003, 2005 and 2006 -- he was not paid.
But Lewis said: "I'm sick of his sob story that he works
for free and then I find out he gets money on the other
side."
County commissioners have been critical of the district,
and some commissioners said they hadn't heard of the district before November's
referendum. Commissioner Kristin Jacobs said on Monday she fears that an
expanded district would compete for grants and duplicate what is already being
done by other agencies.
Jacobs wouldn't criticize Setti's arrangement with the
district, but pointed out that county water resource experts "are salaried
employees who do grant duties as part of a long list of other responsibilities."
Setti defends his deal with the district.
"There are no guarantees. If I don't get a grant, I
don't get money," Setti said. "I challenge any grant writer in the county to see
if they can do it cheaper and more efficient than me."
.