 |
Main Entry: pork Pronunciation: ‘pOrk Function: noun In American political slang, it is politics (including government money, jobs, or favors) dealing with funding at the Federal level of local projects with little or no national significance yielding rich patronage benefits. In a literal sense a “pork barrel” is a barrel in which pork is kept, but figuratively speaking it is a supply of money, often the source of one’s livelihood. |
This week’s pork, served fresh, hot, and steamy: The Central Iowa Employment and Training Consortium (CIETC) is a nonprofit organization that provides job-training services for the Iowa Workforce Development (IWD) program. As extensively reported by The Des Moines Register, the group’s top three executives were recently fired after a state audit found that they collected a combined $1.8 million in salaries over 30 months.
CIETC is headed by a board of public officials and gets its $5 million annual budget from a mix of local, state, and federal grants. The group received $2 million from three earmarks in the Department of Labor’s budget from fiscal 2003 to 2005. The earmarks were inserted by Sen. Tom Harkin (Iowa), ranking Democrat on the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee.
Ramona Cunningham is at the heart of the scandal involving conflicts of interest, nepotism, and favoritism. As CIETC’s chief executive officer, the thrice-divorced high school dropout reaped $800,000 over a 30 month period and even took three months of vacation per year. Cunningham was defiant during recent testimony before the state legislature, saying “I feel I earned the salary, yes, sir.” Cunningham’s predecessor, Marlon Williams, was also fired amid allegations of misuse of federal money in 1986.
Central Iowa Employment and Training Consortium, CIETC, Iowa Workforce Development, Ramona Cunningham
