The Powhatan County Board of Supervisors is holding up an allocation of $61,000 earmarked for Richmond Community Action Program Inc.

The supervisors decided to put the money in a reserve account in April during development of the county budget. The board justifies its decision in part by pointing to a report by the Office of Community Services for the Virginia Department of Social Services that lists some weaknesses of the organization and suggests some changes. The money can be appropriated by board action only.

The Richmond Community Action Program is a private, nonprofit community action agency that administers programs geared toward the poor in Richmond, Petersburg and Powhatan County.

As the supervisors were preparing the county's budget the past few months, they and officials from the Richmond agency were sniping over the handling of funds and the level of service provided to the county.

Powhatan Supervisor Joe Walton said the social-services report is not surprising "and confirms many suspicions I had based on my limited interaction with the organization."

But Thomas Dance Wagstaff, executive director of Richmond Community Action, said supervisors are misinterpreting the report. Wagstaff said such reports are done periodically "to make any community action agency a better organization."

The real problem, Wagstaff said, is that some Powhatan residents are still upset that Richmond Community Action replaced the Powhatan-Goochland Community Action Agency. The Powhatan agency merged with the Richmond Community Action Program on July 1.

"A great deal of hostility directed toward RCAP relates to actions taken by PGCAA, not RCAP actions," Wagstaff said.

Wagstaff said issues raised in the report are already being addressed. For example, the review found that some Richmond Community Action board members use agency resources for personal use. The agency employees will be reminded of acceptable practices of conduct.

The social-services report also said the agency's by-laws had not been revised since 1999 and the articles of incorporation have not been amended since 1965. The agency responded that the by-laws were revised in December 2004 and are currently being reviewed and updated.

Wagstaff said he has no problem with the supervisors deciding not to allocate the money upfront since the agency generally bills localities after services are rendered.
Contact Jamie C. Ruff at (434) 392-6605 or jruff@timesdispatch.com.