KRIV-26’s Isiah Carey broke a story last night on a HUD audit of a City of Houston housing program:
The audit is best described as explosive. It targets the City of Houston’s Housing Department.
It highlights more than 40 deficiencies at in the agency. The housing department is designed to provide affordable housing and other opportunities for those with low income.
[snip]
Investigators say HUD dollars were used to pay the expenses of a relative of a man who heads a housing program. The city’s rental project may discriminate against those with disabilities, and the Home Rehabilitation Program provided poor work in some cases.
[snip]
Some houses were considered overpriced and auditors want to know why three employees were paid with housing dollars to work in the mayor’s office….
Well, THAT doesn’t sound quite right, but it does sound like The Houston Way. We are looking forward to the talking-points explanation from Mayor White’s press shop (and maybe even his volunteer twitterers and blog commenters).
KHOU-11’s Lee Mcguire adds more to this story in a report tonight. The Houston Chronicle hasn’t reported on this story yet (or the METRO budget disclosure discrepancies for that matter), but at least MeMo and her kids are posting new content!
UPDATE (04/11/2009): Isiah Carey has more in this post (and accompanying video), including the current Housing director’s lament that the organization was “screwed” when he arrived. Recall that FOB (Friend of Bill White) David Mincberg headed the organization before bailing out to run unsuccessfully for County Judge. There is also video of Mayor White rambling on and not making much sense. Clearly, fixing the numerous problems in this organization was about as high a priority for Mayor White as fixing BARC, HPD’s staffing issues, and the unfunded liabilities in the municipal pension funds. Maybe the next administration will get around to those things!
