Hidalgo County judge grills Community Service Agency director for failure to administer $2.8M

EDINBURG — The Hidalgo County Community Service Agency — an office tasked with connecting indigent residents with federal grant money — failed to administer roughly $2.8 million in funds since 2012, officials said Tuesday.

The revelation came when Hidalgo County Commissioners told the CSA’s executive director to change that course — something she said has been challenging amid turnover of a staff that receives little pay itself.

In 2012 and 2013, the county did not use around $1 million each year from the federal government that was budgeted for indigent assistance. In 2014, it didn’t use about $500,000. If it isn’t used, the money doesn’t carry over, the agency’s longtime Executive Director Maribel Navarro Saenz said.

At Tuesday’s Comm-issioners Court meeting, Navarro Saenz said her agency was understaffed — a problem she chalked up to poor pay and turnover — so it couldn’t keep up with the requests for help, meaning less federal money spent.

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