Opinion: THAP's sleazy, desperate warning

The discredited social services agency known as THAP will say or do anything to keep its snout in the public till. The latest is a warning by the Tampa-Hillsborough Action Plan that a cutoff of funds to the scandal-plagued agency will hurt the poor and people with HIV. So there you have it -- an agency under state and federal investigation that should be offering accountability and reform is giving the government a guilt trip instead. Officials should ignore it. Community service and sleaziness need not be a package deal.

The city and Hillsborough County have taken a responsible approach by seeking to phase out their relationship with THAP in a way that doesn't interrupt client services. That's the best anyone could hope for, and a credit to the city and county staffs. Tampa officials should pursue their goal of taking over valuable property THAP obtained with city-backed loans. Those projects need to be safely held in the government's trust, at least until a reliable partner for the venture can be found.

Bob Harrell has done a good job so far in cleaning up the mess his predecessor, Steve LaBrake, created in Tampa's housing office. LaBrake's co-mingling of public and private business with THAP undermined confidence in the affordable housing program. Harrell has turned that image around, showing not only strong leadership but common sense about where the city should be involved.

Financial and ethical irregularities aside, THAP's core problem is its continued poor leadership and the murky state of its operations. The sooner it leaves the picture, the better, and the city and county should keep moving in that direction. Finding a suitable agency to take over THAP's job may be a challenge, but the alternative is unacceptable. Local officials may need to show some creativity -- farming out THAP's services to multiple agencies, helping new nonprofits to get established or creating an entirely new structure for delivering social services. But sticking with a contractor that uses its clients as bait hardly should reassure the taxpayers or the people in need of help.

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