Homestead officials have kicked out the operator of its Carrie P. Meek business center amid a county investigation into the center’s director.
But Miami-Dade Commissioner Dennis Moss has asked city officials to hand over operation of the center to a non-profit which is considering employing the scrutinized director.
The Meek center, also known as the Business and Technology Development Corp., is under investigation by the Miami-Dade County Inspector General’s Office for suspicion of grand theft and money laundering, according to Homestead City Manager George Gretsas.
Run by Hilda B. Hall-Dennis, the Meek center has operated rent-free out of a city-owned building on Civic Court in Homestead. It’s supposed to provide help and subsidized office space for businesses starting up in the area.
The center’s lease with Homestead’s Community Redevelopment Agency expired Sept. 30, but it has continued to work out of the building. Now, Hall-Dennis has until Dec. 14 to get out, according to a letter sent to her by the CRA.
The CRA, a special taxing district which helps fix up blighted areas, will run the center until a new, permanent operator can be found.
Moss, according to a letter sent to city officials, hopes that the new operator will be NANA, the Neighbors and Neighbors Association.
NANA on its website says it started the Mom and Pop Small Business Grant Program and the City of Miami Micro-Enterprise Assistance Grant Program. The organization is funded with county and city of Miami money, according to its website.
NANA director Leroy Jones said that Hall-Dennis has worked for the association in the past as a paid consultant, conducting training and workshops. He said his organization’s board is currently considering whether to hire her again as a contractor, or to give her a job.
Jones said Hall-Dennis would not be given any position that handles money.
“To be perfectly honest with you, I would love Hilda to work for me. And I understand what’s out there, but I also understand that she has not been found guilty,” Jones said.
He added: “For doing workshops and trainings for businesses, she’s very good at that. I know that because we’ve been doing trainings and workshops since at least 1998. ... If we bring her on board, that’s what she’ll be doing.”
Jones said he is considering submitting a proposal to the city to run the Meek center.
Commissioner Moss had faith in both NANA and Hall-Dennis, he said.
“NANA is an organization that has a credible track record in this community,” the commissioner said. “They will do an excellent job of running the center.”
In a letter to the city of Homestead, the center’s namesake, former U.S. Rep. Carrie P. Meek praised Hall-Dennis. Meek has no affiliation with the center, other than its name and her help in first securing the money for the center.
“I am extremely proud of the center and the work that Hilda Hall-Dennis has done,” she wrote.
Homestead’s Meek center has landed $898,000 in federal grant money since 2008, according to an IG memo. As a condition of receiving the money, which is dispersed by the county, the Meek center is supposed to be registered as a non-profit and carry various types of insurance.
But the center lost its non-profit status in 2010 for not filing returns for three consecutive years, and the state issued a stop-work order on the center in September for failing to carry the required insurance. The stop-work order means that the Meek center is not allowed to do any business until it resolves the insurance issue.
After going “missing in action” for months, according to city manager Gretsas, Hall-Dennis appeared at a CRA meeting on Dec. 4 to defend herself.
She summed up the IRS issue as a mistake, because, she claims, she did mail in her taxes every year. She also said that the stop-work order had been taken care of.
A spokeswoman for the state confirmed in an email on Tuesday that the stop-work order has been lifted and a $2,300-fine has been levied. The fine had not been paid as of Tuesday, the spokeswoman wrote.
Hall-Dennis said at the meeting that many of her problems stem from the county not reimbursing her in a timely way for the center’s expenses.
“I’ve taken my own money to make sure that the staff was paid. I’ve taken money from my family. I’ve taken loans,” she said.
The center also has a trail of unpaid bills and judgments against it from payroll companies and banks, totaling more than $250,000, Gretsas said.
“It’s embarrassing. The more the facts come out, the worse it gets. And I think we just need to move on. This doesn’t look good for the city,” he said.
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Amid investigation, Homestead kicks out nonprofit business center
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Amid investigation, Homestead kicks out nonprofit business center
