PIIae 17 . . When the Benton Harbor City Commis ion filed suit February 21 against former Community Service Develop­ ment Director William Lilly and � Rampp, Proplan Inc. and William �pp, to some city ALRECO PAY BACK FUNDS �� It was a question of U'!der the .UDAG program, right suit, wrong defendants. the aty received S1.3 million The lawsuit ':1_-1 m· »--.:_ & WQI �:n1:#11 om HUD in 1981, loaned it to Co� Circuit Court alleges Alreco, who paid it back with in­ that Lilly's decision 'to invest terest by 1984. SSOO,OOO of �� funds in in- According to Greg Sevelis, �aJlcef was a viola- public relations person for the � 0 st¥e and city or- , Detroi HUD office, ODe of the • prerequisites for the city getting . . According to .the iawsui!- the UDAG that the funds ,Lilly, on the advice of Lows would go to developing the Rammp and Preplan Inc, ex- North of Main Industrial Park. ecut�� coatracts to purchase Th� city filed the suit against anmunes &om William Rampp Lilly after unsuccessfully trying and �oplan Inc. to get the oounty prosecutor to Lilly be.gan as. a CET A file charges against former staff employee W1� the aty of Ben- persons in the same matter. ton Harbor In 1975. Ovec the year� he rose to head com- FAMILIAR PROBLEM muruty development, economic The city's experience with developmen� assistant city . mismanaged money is 'a long manager and aty manager. one, I Louis Rammp was a HUD cut off all funds to the Progr� M �r for HUD, city in the early �'s because of supel'VlStng � aty of Benton missing and mismanaged funds. Harbor up until 1984, according One of the things the city bad to to Greg Sevelis, a Detroit HUD do to get HUD funds restored �ff!ce spokesperson, when he was to hire a CPA to supervise , retired. the moneys in Lilly's depart- ment HUD thought a CPA could keep' account of community , developmeot funds. City attorney John Postelli told The Michigan Citizen that he knew nothing about Vern Bruckner, the certified public accoll?tant hired by the, city in . the DUd-1980's to supervise aU fun� going through the Com­ mumty Development Depart­ ment. When asked what respon­ sibility Buckner had for the charges in the lawsuit, Postelli told this paper, "I've never Coatinued rr heard of Buckner. Our laves- sidered on Riverview Drive. tigation revolved around - Create a Building Main· Rampp..· tenancd Department which will The question of the Alreco be headed by a Director report payback funds is one this paper directly to the City Manager. . has persued over the years since' - Fill the vacant position of 198� when the city began to Laborer for the Public Works recerve payments from Alreco. Department , Now Mayor William Wolf, - Combine the Main- then Commissioner Wolf was tenance Department with the questioned by this paper in 1986 Department of Public and about the use of the Alreco Recreation Services. payback funds. At the time he - Authorize the Community took the position there was Development Department to "nothing I can do about it," set up its own Purchase Order Co mmiss ioner George Systen, to appropriately protect Wysinger was asked the same all checks disbursed by them. question at the same time. He Currentl the City Clerk's Of- too, said there was "nothing I fice issues purchase order num- can find out. " rs for Community Develop- Wolf and Wysinger are no ent, therefore it's the City suing their former employee Bill erk's responsibility to track all LOST BUSI ESS Lilly for misuse of funds they �ders issued: Since the City DEVELO u&JIII""'�'" were elected to protect and be Clerk's Office does not issue nor The city also' claiming that responsible for. release. Community because the half million dollars Aka on the commiuion thtn Development's checb . . im- invested in the annuities, it and now were Michael Govatos, possible for them to oo'a proper as not availab for helping Charles Yarbrough, Ralph reconciliation_ The city's develop business in the city. The Crensha . auditors, Plante &. has city wants to be paid for the loss already appr