Alderman Pérez says, the Milwaukee Housing Authority must be brought to account after HUD found more than $3M unaccounted or missing, according to several HUD audits.
Hispanic News Network U.S.A.
September 20, 2023
Milwaukee, Wisconsin - On Wednesday, Alderman Jóse G. Pérez, the President of the Common Council released a statement saying that the Housing Authority of The City of Milwaukee (HACM) administrators should be held to accountable after several HUD audits found millions of dollars were mismanaged including thousands of dollars spent on HACM credit cards by managers of multiple developments unaccounted and lacked any record of the expenditures, according to HUD audits.
HUD rated HACM with 26, one of the lowest rates given to a non-profit housing authority in the country for incompetent management and a lack of fundamental accountability of federal funds.
On Monday, September 25, 2023, the Steering and Rules Committee will take up an ordinance that accomplishes this goal by directing the Department of Neighborhood Services to inspect and, if necessary, cite the HACM for violations of our ordinances. It is well past time the city's second largest landlord play by the same rules as everyone else, Ald. Pérez indicated.
Ald. Pérez in a press release also says, the public release of the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development's review of the HACM's Housing Choice Voucher program has made clear how dysfunctional the authority's operations have become, and underscores the need for action, such as that in the proposed ordinance. The report is a damning account of inefficiency, incompetence, and a fundamental lack of accountability, all involving public funds intended to benefit some of our most vulnerable residents. Recommendations were made for improvements that were, it seems, never carried out. I have written to the author of this review to ask how the HACM will be held accountable for not following previous recommendations and what will be done to ensure they are followed in the future.
At the end of last year, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson and Willie Hines, the Executive Director and Secretary of the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee received a 47-page report (audit) indicating that HACM allegedly was "at risk of serious fraud, waste and abuse," according to the HUD report. (47-page report by HUD at link: https://tinyurl.com/5czw2pft)
Hines earns at least $240,000 in annual salary.
A second HUD report in April found that HACM's bank statements and internal booking records showed more than $3M in discrepancies, HACM staff could not produce receipts for $49,876.16 in expenditures by HACM credit cards. HUD also found that HACM kept poor record keeping that made it difficult for HUD to determine key financial balances for the Section 8 Program.
HUD assessment rating of Section 8 Programs, if a non-profit housing authority or program scores 60, then it's labeled in "trouble" by HUD raising red flags, leading to further audits by the federal Housing Urban Development agency. HACM received a 28 rate score as a result of the last two audits by HUD.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (JS), HACM attributed the current audit issues to technology upgrades, staffing challenges and the pandemic. (JS full article: https://tinyurl.com/4fwmyphf)
On September 13, 2023, the HACM Board approved $600,000 to contract the accounting firm CliftonLarsonAllen (CLA) for a five-year audit of their Section 8 Program, according to HACM Board meeting records.
The HACM Board of Commissioners is composed of 7 members who are appointed by the mayor of Milwaukee and ratified by the Milwaukee Common Council, two of those Commission positions are reserved for HACM tenants who have yet to be appointed.
The four current HACM Commissioners are Sherri Reed Daniels, Chairwoman; Brooke Vandeberg, Vice-chair; Irma Yépez-Klassen and Darien Luckett, according to the HACM website.
On March 26, 2023, during a public meeting held by Common Ground, the residents from the Mitchell Court development raised issues and demanded an investigation of the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee after they say they have experienced assault; bedbugs and rats; "lost" rent payments; abusive management; mold; and no heat. (Full article: https://tinyurl.com/ahhtjhme)
Common Ground has been instrumental in organizing and representing HACM residents for the last several years.
Common Ground, a non-profit organization and its Tenants United campaign are inviting HACM tenants to attend a Milwaukee Common Council Steering and Rules Committee hearing on the Housing Authority's Accountability on Monday at 1:00 p.m. (meet at Rotunda) on September 25, 2023, at City Hall, hearing at room 301-B, 200 E. Wells St. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
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