EOB To Transfer Remaining Programs To Other Agencies
By Lynnette Curtis, Las Vegas Review-Journal
May 10, 2006

The dying Economic Opportunity Board, once the largest publicly funded nonprofit in Nevada, will transfer all its remaining programs to other agencies by May 22 and will hold what will probably be its last board meeting Thursday, Executive Director Lester Murray said.

"We're just trying to wrap things up and make sure everything is in order as we leave," he said Monday.

The board's only remaining asset will be its community radio station, KCEP-FM, 88.1 FM. That too may eventually be sold to help pay down the board's $3 million debt, Murray said. The future of the station will be discussed at Thursday's meeting.

The decades-old social service organization once boasted an annual budget of more than $50 million and employed about 660 people. It has been responsible for dozens of local social programs including child care and substance abuse programs, but became a sinking ship in recent years and faced investigations by state and federal authorities into financial mismanagement and other administrative problems.

The board surrendered several multimillion dollar grants after mounting debt left it unable to adequately manage them. A Denver-based agency stepped in to run the $12.6 million federal Head Start early childhood development program after officials said the board wasn't providing adequate health care to low-income children. Clark County took over the administration of a $5.5 million state child care assistance program because of the board's financial mismanagement.

WestCare took over the board's drug treatment center April 30. Precious Cargo, a California-based company, was contracted to manage a former board program to transport Medicaid patients.

Many of the board's employees were transferred along with its programs to other agencies, and 21 have been laid off. Six more will lose their jobs in the next few weeks, said Murray, adding that his will be among the positions terminated.

"That's probably when we'll officially close the doors," he said. "May 31 is the drop dead deadline for us."

Remaining staffers have been busy making inventories of the board's furnishings, office supplies and other assets to determine which of them may be sold and which must be transferred to new agencies because they were purchased with grant money. The board also will sell its seven parcels of land worth about $4.2 million.

"It isn't going as quickly as we'd like," Murray said. "Over 42 years, you accumulate a lot of items."

Murray hopes to auction off any saleable items to help pay debtors.

"We're going to try to exit with some grace and dignity."

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