Stimulus Funds for Public Housing Lack Oversight
 
Since March, Senator Kit Bond and I have been asking questions of the Department of Housing and Urban Development about stimulus dollars going to public housing authorities with a track record of mismanagement.  The issues we raised included millions of dollars used to pay interest on unused properties in Puerto Rico; insufficient staff in Miami to handle projects the stimulus funds will generate; rampant waste, fraud and abuse in New Orleans; and other issues in these and additional locations.

Earlier this week, Senator Bond and I sent a third letter to the department about highly questionable financial activities at the Philadelphia public housing authority – the fourth-largest public housing agency in the country.  This housing authority has been given $127 million in stimulus funds for 1,200 federally subsidized housing units.  Philadelphia newspapers recently reported that the executive director is being paid more than the Philadelphia mayor and the Pennsylvania governor combined.  The director is making $306,370 annually and recently received a bonus totaling more than $44,000.  Additionally, the director established a slush fund for social outings, and employees were pressured to contribute to the fund.

Despite the questions this behavior raises about the management of this housing authority, the Department of Housing and Urban Development has given this director the responsibility of administering $127 million in stimulus dollars for the Philadelphia public housing authority.

My concern is that there is so much pressure in the federal bureaucracy to push stimulus dollars out the door to meet arbitrary spending deadlines, responsible management of those dollars has been forsaken.  Agencies entrusted with your tax dollars must be held accountable, and I will continue my oversight of stimulus dollars for housing.

Click here to read the initial March 15 letter.

Click here to read HUD’s May 14 response.

Click here to read the June 16 letter to HUD.

Click here to read HUD’s July 23 response.

Click here to read the August 23 letter to HUD.