Pubdate: Mon, 31 Jul 2006 Source: Des Moines Register (IA) Copyright: 2006 The Des Moines Register. Contact: http://desmoinesregister.com/index.html Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/123 Author: Clark Kauffman ANTI-DRUG PROGRAM IN LINE FOR $50,000 FEDERAL GRANT Rock In Prevention's spending and effectiveness have been questioned. Des Moines' controversial anti-drug program Rock In Prevention may soon receive an additional $50,000 in taxpayer money. U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell, a Des Moines Democrat, acknowledged last week that he is responsible for a federal earmark that would route $50,000 in taxpayer money to Rock In Prevention Inc. The organization hopes to receive final approval for the money in the next few months. Boswell's communications director, Susan McAvoy, issued a statement last week that said, "Over the years, Congressman Boswell has consistently supported efforts to keep kids away from drugs, and he is greatly disturbed and disappointed by recent reports concerning Rock In Prevention. Taxpayers have an expectation that public funds will be used in a legal and reasonable manner." Rock In Prevention was the subject of Des Moines Register articles last summer and last week. Those stories detailed the manner in which the nonprofit, tax-exempt organization spends public and private money to combat drug use among schoolchildren. The organization uses rock music, delivered though live performances and compact discs, to persuade students not to use drugs, tobacco or alcohol. In fiscal year 2005, the organization paid its executive director, Pat McManus, $315,732 -- an amount that represents 39 percent of the agency's total spending. More than $192,000 of that represents payments to Mission From God Records, a for-profit venture run exclusively by McManus. Those payments were for compact discs of McManus' inspirational music, which are distributed to children at Rock In Prevention rallies. The organization's board members say 23 percent of the payments to Mission From God represent a "profit" for McManus. Board member Jim Stafford said Friday that the organization has not yet received the $50,000 in federal money secured by Boswell, but is "hopeful of receiving formal approval on the grant within the near future." In recent years, the government has been Rock In Prevention's single biggest contributor. The biggest private donor has been Don Lamberti, the father of Senate Republican Co-President Jeff Lamberti of Ankeny. The senior Lamberti is founder of Casey's General Stores and last year gave the charity $98,392 in Casey's common stock. Like Boswell, Jeff Lamberti has been a supporter of Rock In Prevention. He is opposing Boswell in the congressman's 2006 bid for re-election as representative of Iowa's 3rd District. In 2003, Lamberti was instrumental in winning approval for legislation that routed $400,000 of state money to Rock In Prevention through a sole-source, no-compete contract. A few months later, when Iowa Department of Public Health workers tried to let other prevention agencies compete for the $400,000, Lamberti personally intervened. He sent a fax to McManus at the Rock In Prevention offices, attaching a copy of a letter that he intended to send to the Department of Public Health and asking McManus to make any necessary revisions to the letter before it was sent out. Later that same day, Lamberti sent the department his letter, which was signed by himself and Sen. Matt McCoy, a Des Moines Democrat. In that letter, Lamberti and McCoy told department officials that legislators clearly intended to "provide an opportunity for Rock In Prevention to access state funding," and they objected to a bidding process that they felt would prevent Rock In Prevention from collecting the $400,000. They also objected to the department's attempts to have applicants for the money backed by research, saying Rock In Prevention would be unable to meet that standard. Department officials agreed to reverse course, and Rock In Prevention was awarded the $400,000. Lamberti said last week that his intent was to help a program that was well-established and innovative and had the potential of addressing drug use by teens. At the time, Rock In Prevention was faced with a funding crisis: Federal officials had withdrawn some of their financial support for the agency, citing a lack of scientific evidence of success. "They were in a real crunch, and there was a real question as to whether or not they were going to be able to continue," Lamberti said. "And so we did provide them with funding to allow them to move forward." Lamberti said that his attitude changed last year after Rock In Prevention's effectiveness was questioned. "Once those questions were raised, I made the decision that we were no longer going to provide any specific line-item (funding) and everybody was going to have to compete for those dollars," he said. The comments from Bos-well's spokeswoman about Rock In Prevention are almost identical to comments the congressman made in an April news release regarding Central Iowa Employment and Training Consortium. In referring to CIETC, Boswell said then that he was "greatly disturbed and disappointed" by reports of a payroll scandal at CIETC. He added that "taxpayers have an expectation that public funds be spent in a legal and reasonable manner, and entrust their faith in people to act accordingly." - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman