HUD Opens Second Investigation Of Houston Housing Authority
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The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General has opened up a second investigation of Houston’s public housing agency.
Internal emails obtained by Dolcefino Consulting show the HUD OIG is suspicious of the bidding process for roofing and gutter contracts, in one case calling the biding process “fishy.”
It’s the second investigation in recent months into Houston’s public housing agency. The FBI and HUD are both already investigating a pricey East End land deal, including some of the people who stand to profit from the purchase of land so toxic it is not supposed to be used for public housing.
Chyna Gragg, the owner of a minority and woman-owned roofing company in Houston called Roofing Designs has blown the whistle on the bidding irregularities in Houston Housing Authority roofing contracts. Gragg says she has faced retaliation ever since, and now her lawyer is threatening a lawsuit.
“The public should care because this is taxpayer abuse,” said Chyna Gragg. “I would like for the HUD OIG to investigate thoroughly. I really would like for them to crack down on what’s going on.”
On a roofing project at a public housing complex on Long Drive, a company called Remedy Roofing left 75,000 square feet of plywood off their plan when they won the lowest bid. Instead of being replaced by the actual low bidder, they were allowed by the Housing Authority to change their bid after seeing what everyone else had already bid.
Emails reveal the HUD investigator “finds it odd that the Remedy’s update price came in just under the second lowest bidder.”
“I did it by the rules, you know, and I felt that I got cheated out,” said Brad Biggs, owner of Texas Engineered Roofing. “I will never do a bid for Houston Housing Authority again.”
The head of procurement at HHA, Kevin Coleman, had a wordy excuse for the mistakes made by the Housing Authority. “Unfortunately, an inadvertent administrative oversight documenting and correcting the non-judgmental error were not created in a timely manner.”
“This word salad of an excuse is the kind of shoddy mismanagement that cannot be tolerated,” said Wayne Dolcefino, President of Dolcefino Consulting. “The feds need to take a microscope to this place. The Mayor knows every bit of this is going on and he ignores it. What’s he hiding”
The Dolcefino Consulting investigation has found many Houston housing deals financially benefit the wife of County Commissioner Rodney Ellis and the former chairman of the Houston Housing Authority. The $54 million East End land deal will use proceeds from the sale of Clayton Homes.
Former Housing Authority Board member Phillis Wilson says the FBI has asked for help in the investigation.
“The FBI is knocking on my door. They’re knocking on the wrong doors. They got the key players. Why aren’t they at their doors?” said Phillis Wilson.
The growing scandal at the HHA comes as one official claims the agency has lost their way, focusing on real estate deals that benefit the same people. The official, who wanted anonymity, says the agency doesn’t care anymore about the people they are supposed to be helping, labeling them as “trash.”
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