The drama continues.
On Monday there will be a joint meeting with City Council and the Economic Development Corporation (EDC) to discuss the process used to distribute about $1 Million in COVID related funds. Over the last few months there has been an emphasis on being truthful when filling out applications for work or to receive funds from the city. When posted, the agenda and other files can be found here.
The City Manager has been accused of not providing truthful information in his application for his job. He has since resigned and has been charged with two misdemeanors. The Chief of Police might have some explaining to do concerning his application for employment. If the same standard is applied he might also lose his job. And now Council Member Joseph Lowry is under scrutiny for an application he submitted to the EDC in order to receive $50,000 in COVID relief money. COVID wreaked havoc on the entire world. Businesses were trying to stay afloat. People died, needlessly. The Federal Government gave grants to cities to help ease this impact until a vaccination could be developed.
According to the requirements to receive these funds a business must be within the city of La Marque, must not be a home business, must have 50 or less employees, and must pay taxes to the City. The EDC has the right to demand repayment of these funds if they find incorrect information was provided to the city. So the question is “Did Council Member Lowry provide factual information to receive the funds?”.
According to his application (see below) he claimed his address for his concrete pumping business as his home. His physical business is in San Leon. It seems like a pretty simple issue to resolve. Maybe there is an explanation for why Lowry used his home address for his business. Maybe there is a reason the EDC approved this. Or maybe the EDC made a mistake and should have rejected the application.
Monday’s meeting ought to clear this up for everyone involved.
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[…] $50,000 in COVID grant money which is now under review. Claims have been made that he did not qualify for this grant money by listing a home address as his business […]