Money & Politics | Daily Report

Martin Pettitt/FlickrCampesinos Unidos underreported expenditures and subcontracted work to the California Conservation Corps, according to the state inspector general.

A company using federal stimulus money to perform weatherization work on homes in Imperial and San Diego counties overbilled state agencies and has not adequately trained its workers, according to a report by the California inspector general.

Campesinos Unidos Inc., a nonprofit company based in Brawley, Calif., overbilled the California Department of Community Services and Development, which handles stimulus funds meant to go for weatherization projects, by $34,803, according to the report.

The report also notes that workers and supervisors performing weatherization renovations on homes have not been adequately trained, potentially leading to the work being improperly done, or not up to code. 

“The Department of Community Services and Development should instruct Campesinos to immediately cease ongoing work until the proper training is completed and certified proof is provided,” said California Inspector General Laura Chick in a letter to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Campesinos Unidos was awarded $2.6 million in stimulus funds, which is part of $185 million that California will receive to weatherize homes. Weatherized homes are meant to combat the effects of the elements to improve energy efficiency in homes and raise health standards.

The money was slated to help low-income residents obtain weatherization renovations in their homes. So far, the company claims to have spent $739,717 of the funds.

But according to the inspector general's report, Campesinos Unidos’s expenditures lacked transparency, and the inspector general could not verify the expenditures it claimed.

In her letter to Schwarzenegger, Chick wrote that “Campesinos’ books are in such disarray that we cannot determine how much recovery money has actually been spent or how well it has been spent. This is not an acceptable way to account for the people’s money.”

The inspector general also found that the company underreported $45,300 in expenditures. The money was used to subcontract some of the weatherization work to the California Conservation Corps.

The report says that management for the company was unaware of the financial liability to the CCC.

The company could not be reached for comment yesterday. 

Chick said a goal of stimulus funds is to provide workers with adequate training to prepare them for the growing "green jobs" industry. 

"It is a disservice to the worker, and to the taxpayer, if the proper training is not provided," Chick wrote. 

Chick, who was appointed by Schwarzenegger to oversee the state's stimulus funds, called on the Department of Community Services and Development to verify that its other 38 providers performing weatherization work are training and certifying their workers, and assess whether the work is being done adequately.