January 08, 2012

Gabriel Cortes

When I offered to help with my daughter's soccer team or help out at school, I have to fill out paperwork and have background checks done.   Very part time volunteer work.      How did Gabriel Cortes (read below from Worcesteria), who is a registered sex offender hired for jobs like this? 

I have very simple question for the Executive Director of the South Worcester Neighborhood Center "Did you do any background checks on this job applicant before you hired him?"     The answer is obvious.  Seriously imagine hiring a registered sex offender to work in a neighborhood center?


from Worcesteria

KNOW THY CO-WORKER: As if an FBI investigation leading to federal bribery charges against former Oak Hill CDC and South Worcester Neighborhood Improvement Center employee Gabriel Cortes hadn’t already shaken up the local housing players, it turns out Cortes’ former employers were kept in the dark about some unsavory aspects about his past. According to the conditions of his bond release, Cortes must “remain current with the sex offender registry” and can’t have “unsupervised conduct with minor children” (with the exception of his daughter). A spokeswoman from the Middlesex District Attorney’s offi ce confirmed that Cortes has a closed court case from 2010 but said any additional information would have to come from the state’s Sex Offender Registry Board – information that Worcester Mag has not yet been able to obtain. Cortes’ lawyer nor has the Oak Hill CDC have not returned phone calls. Ron Charette, Neighborhood Improvement Center’s executive director, said because of the pending trial he couldn’t say much about Cortes or the claims laid out in the FBI’s affidavit, and hadn’t heard about Cortes’ past. Charette added that all employees are screened, but Cortes arrived the same day his time at Oak Hill ended, so it was assumed his background checked out. Cortes’ job at the CDCs was funded by U.S. Housing and Urban Development grants secured by the city, hence the federal charges.

4 comments:

Jahn said...

Also not mentioned in the article is that the alleged individual evidently slid from Oak Hill right over to S.W. Nayborehood Centaaah. Even had gravity on his side as he slid down from Grafton HIll Area to Cambriage St area. I call this the Non Profit Low Income Housing Cabal.

We also had messy record keeping (no theft alleged) at Worc Exec Office Nayborehood Offices a couple years ago and the gentleman apparently left of his own free will only to land on his feet in a simalar state(?) position.

These organizations and offices that are low income housing centric are nothing more than Cluster ++++s when it comes not only to employment but also to dishing out the low income housing funds. They will advertise a bid for low income housing constr with a MAXIMUM $25,000 Home Funds ( giveawy to builder) per unit and then give the builders $30,000 Home Funds. I mean HTF does that get by the auditors?

Then there's the school dept and their home office and "branchs" (Irving St & the schools) inablity to timely and properly reconcile their bank accts. Moore on that later.

Here's an idea. Have the kids who are studying general business courses (or what ever they call it today?) do the reconcilations first as a classroom study effort and then as home work asignments. Kinda how the trade schools work on city vechiles as hands on learning experience.

And I cant begin to tell ya the theft I have read and heard about over the years from PTA's (NO PTA isnt Part Time Alcoholics) bank accts, however these have nothing to do with city oversight..........

as well as theft of inventory items bought for re-sale and/orraffles.....including but not limited to a Cabbage Patch Doll...(circa 1984?) I know b/c I won the doll at a local store raffle and gave it to the school to raffle off. Twas truly embarassing. They had to return all the raffle money upon learning the doll had been permanently doll-knapped. A suspect was never apprehended :(

File under Cold Doll Cases

Paulie's Point of View said...

South Worcester CDC has a great hiring track record...CYBER BULLIES and now this....there will be those who say the supposed good this CDC overrides CYBER BULLIES and crooks....yet one more reason to consolidate these CDC's..District 4 does not three....really doesn't need one and they need extreme oversight by the citizenry

Jahn said...

I agree...assuming there should even be low income housing builders in Worcester there s/b one ( Worc CDC) gubmint funded low income housing builder and they should farm out the entire building process to one general contractor for the most efficient and effective constr. Bunch of hacks acting as constr. managers is a farce. Non profit builders CEO's are political appointments.

This is Kind of like making Pedone an executive officer in the state higher education system. Dare I ask what exectuive or college work experience does he have? Dittos for another state legislator appt'ed over at Umass a couple years ago. Years ago all the dead wood ended up on the county payroll, but there aint no more county gubmint.....cept for the sheriff?? There used to be a county engineering office in the courthouse ......... a complete Hackerama.... I think its now gone?

Paulie's Point of View said...

Senor Pedro Jahn.....word on the street is they farm out the construction projects to players........all of this no lo income housing has just consumed Worcester......we may not get out from underneath it for another decade.......