mount vernon civic integrity project website name

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Drawing of Mount Vernon City Hall Sliding into the Abyss

Part 6: ARPA in Mount Vernon

How to Spend $41 Million in Federal Relief Funds and Still Be on the Precipice of Bankruptcy

By ARPA’s final year, accountability was missing. Millions were spent with minimal evidence of results, weak controls, and a recovery plan that never moved beyond paper.
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Part 5: ARPA in Mount Vernon

When Direct Community Assistance Appeared, But Oversight Remained Hidden

By 2024, ARPA spending in Mount Vernon had become routine and opaque, with emergency declarations, vehicle purchases, and loosely monitored programs replacing any clear recovery strategy.
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Part 4: ARPA in Mount Vernon

ARPA in Mount Vernon, Part 4: 2023 — When “Emergency” Became the Business Model

Part 4 of our ARPA series examines how 2023 spending continued patterns of vehicle purchases, emergency declarations, and missing documentation — with little evidence of a coherent recovery plan.
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ARPA Graphic Vehicles

Part 3: ARPA in Mount Vernon

2022 — Are Vehicles the Recovery Plan?

ARPA was meant to support recovery. In 2022, Mount Vernon instead spent millions on vehicles, with little reaching the people the program was designed to help.
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Part 2: ARPA in Mount Vernon

The First Year of Spending (2021): Early contracts, early beneficiaries — and early warning signs

Mount Vernon’s first year of ARPA spending set the tone: millions spent, little documentation, and early warning signs that still matter today.
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Part 1: ARPA in Mount Vernon

What Is ARPA, Anyway, and What Was It Supposed to Do?

ARPA was meant to help cities recover from COVID. In Mount Vernon, $41 million arrived — but missing reports and weak controls tell a troubling story.
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