DEI scams Minneapolis out of almost a million and black-owned businesses out of a bunch as well

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Pretty infuriating story: https://kstp.com/kstp-news/top-news/citys-inaugural-black-expo-leaves-minneapolis-small-business-owners-with-losses/

The summary:

-City creates a new "Racial Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Department" and appoints a director.
-Director proposes a ‘I Am My Ancestors Wildest Dreams’ expo to showcase local black-owned businesses.
-Expo gets earmarked $450k budget for it. Then...a week before the director demands to almost double it. The City Council gives her $290k from federal Covid funds and another $145k from the city's emergency fund.
-Director uses money to award a bunch of contracts to companies owned by her contacts and buddies, many out of the city and some out of the state entirely (one of the biggest recipients was in Kansas City.)
-Event receives near zero marketing or promotion from all of those funds.
-Businesses setting up there are promised a likely attendance of around 20,000. Actual attendance was closer to 200. Needless to say those businesses didn't get many sales and all took a hit.
-Director of that Department is no longer employed (unclear if it was a firing or a "I'm quitting, you definitely can't fire me." situation.)

And this was a position that did not exist until about a year ago. It was a completely unnecessary position that no one except loud activists on Twitter was calling for, most people in Minneapolis were unaware even existed until now....and look what it got us.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Can this person be locked up for white-collar fraud? Does a legal case exist?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Can this person be locked up for white-collar fraud? Does a legal case exist?

Probably would have to prove she was directly getting kickbacks. I'd like to think this would ensure she'd never be hired anywhere else for such a position but the nature of DEI means this isn't guaranteed.

If the city wants to do an expo showcasing black-owned businesses, can it be done more efficiently and successfully without a "Racial Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Department" running things? I think the answer is obviously "yes".

[lfromnj]

https://www.mynbc5.com/article/diversity-director-burlington-tyeastia-green/44791461
https://vtdigger.org/2023/08/10/city-investigation-of-burlington-juneteenth-events-alleges-mismanagement-sparks-outcry/

After Burlington’s former director of racial equity, inclusion and belonging, Tyeastia Green, left a similar role in Minneapolis amid allegations of financial mismanagement, the city launched its own review. Green and others allege the review was racially motivated.

This grift is amazing. Its the exact same person from the OP except now in Vermont.  BRTD when you see this thread bumped maybe just add something about Vermont.

 The brilliant part of DEI is the kafka trap where if you deny the existence of racism being everywhere  its just proof that racism is completely prevalent in every layer of society so we need more DEI.

[quesaisje]

Burlington's office of Racial Equity, Inclusion & Belonging has spent nearly $4 million in its several years of existence, with nothing to show for it but embarrassment. There was another scandal a couple of years ago in which an administrator scammed the city out of thousands of dollars to write a "police transformation" report that was mostly plagiarized, without attribution, from other sources. It's absolutely pathetic.

[HisGrace]

Some lower level official like this wanting their budget doubled with a week's notice would normally set off all kinds of alarm bells. Except it didn't here because you had to do everything she said or else you were racist. These people are so easy to trick and take advantage of.

[VBM]

We need to take a sledgehammer to DEI

[Xing]

Don’t get me started on how much school districts spend on DEI only to say that no progress has been made on this front as a talking point for why we need to continue spending for DEI.