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Disorder in Housing Office Demands Good Explanation

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 11, 2008

An internal audit found Hillsborough County's Affordable Housing Office to be mismanaged, yet it let the county's top manager, Administrator Pat Bean, off the hook.

Neither Hillsborough County commissioners nor Bean herself should be so indulgent.

The report by the county's internal performance auditor frees Bean of blame because she didn't know about the problem. It's an explanation of how things got so bad, not an excuse.

The affordable housing office handles $15 million to $18 million in state and federal housing grants each year. The money is used to renovate decaying homes, assist first-time homebuyers and otherwise help people become homeowners.

The department came under fire last year when it had to forfeit more than $2 million in grants because it had not met federal deadlines in committing that money. A federal investigation of the agency is under way. The county audit found questionable practices that were turned over to investigators.

Auditors clear Bean of any blame because when she took over as administrator in late 2003 a "defective reporting system" was in place that kept Bean unaware of any problems until 2007.

But with so many tax dollars circulating through the department, providing amble opportunity for abuse or waste, you would think Bean would have been more interested in the county's practices.

After all, the head of Tampa's housing program was convicted of bribery, conspiracy and wire fraud in 2004. So it is not as if county officials were unaware of the sorts of problems that can occur in housing programs.

Bean told the Tribune's Mike Salinero, "Yes, it's my job to make sure every organization that reports to me is running smoothly, but I can't be on top of every one."

The auditors fault the leadership of a former housing manager who had no experience in housing when appointed to the job by former administrator Dan Kleman. The manager, auditors say, was hampered by the department's dysfunctional management structure and by employees who abused his trust.

The assignment may have been a bad fit for the manager, Dexter Barge, who's known as a diligent worker and has since been given another assignment. But things might have turned out differently if the administration had paid more attention and provided him resources and counseling early on.

And Bean became administrator only five or so months after Barge took his post. So why is she given a pass?

Bean, it should be stressed, reacted quickly and notified investigators when she finally discovered the problems. She has taken steps to improve performance, though the county's affordable housing programs lags behind most of the nation.

We don't suggest commissioners put Bean through the ringer over this. In a county with more than 9,000 employees, there will be lapses, even scandals. But when they occur, they shouldn't be blandly blamed on miscommunication.

No one expects her to personally oversee the details of every operation. But the county should have a system of oversight that includes periodic scrutiny of an agency's performance.

Someone in the county should have been curious years ago why the county ranked near the bottom of the nearly 550 agencies in spending federal affordable housing dollars effectively. It should not have taken four years to discover the problems.

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