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Housing chief disputes critical audit

She says she "could have answered a lot of questions" about her last job in Buffalo, but HUD never asked her.

By JANET ZINK
Published January 12, 2006

TAMPA - The woman hired last year to head the city's housing division has come under criticism in a federal review of the Buffalo, N.Y., Municipal Housing Authority.

Sharon West led the Buffalo authority for 10 years before starting her $90,000-a-year job in Tampa in March.

A report released last week by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development raises questions involving West, including why she is subletting a Buffalo housing authority apartment she lived in when she headed the authority. It also questions the accounting of a scholarship fund she established and the improper handling of travel expenses. HUD's report lists 28 other irregularities at the authority during West's tenure and after, including misuse of cell phones and credit cards by the authority's board and problems with awarding contracts and purchasing services.

The audit, conducted during two weeks in October and November, covers two years.

"It's easy to blame the person who's not there," West said, adding that she was never interviewed by HUD for the audit.

"I could have answered a lot of questions," she said.

West sent a letter to HUD Jan. 4, offering her side of the story.

She said scholarship funds could not be accounted for because, although the project was discussed, it was never finalized, and no contributions were made to the fund.

The one-bedroom apartment, she said, was a market rate unit not intended for low-income residents. She paid $600 a month, and the housing authority allowed her to maintain her lease and sublet for a year in case her job in Tampa didn't work out, she said. The lease expires at the end of January.

Living in the apartment, she said, helped her do her job.

"I am probably the only public housing authority director in the country to live in a public housing complex," she said. "It gave me experience in what the residents experienced."

Regarding the purchasing issues, the audit said the authority's bid procedures were so restrictive that often there were only single bidders for contracts. West said she created policies that would have addressed those findings before she left the Buffalo agency, but those policies must not have been enforced after she left.

On travel, the report says employees didn't have to show receipts to be reimbursed and some were overpaid for expenses. West did not respond to that allegation in her letter.

John Elmore, a former New York State assistant attorney general, has been hired by Buffalo's mayor to review HUD's report. His analysis and recommendations are due in two weeks.

"I can tell you right now that Sharon West did not commit any criminal conduct. I can tell you that there is no money missing from when she was executive director, that the residents loved her," Elmore said.

Mayor Pam Iorio hired West early last year as head of the city's housing and urban redevelopment division where she oversees affordable housing ownership, construction and rehabilitation programs.

She reports to Cyndy Miller, director of business and housing development.

"I have confidence in Sharon," Miller said. "We did a lot of checking when we hired her and HUD folks had nothing but good things to say about her."

Miller said West told her last week about the HUD report.

The housing division West heads is part of a larger department that recently has been rocked by scandal.

Former city housing department head Steve LaBrake was convicted in 2004 after it was revealed that he traded city contracts for personal favors from builders. The scandal essentially halted affordable housing construction while the city tried to straighten out the chaos left by LaBrake's shoddy record-keeping on state and federal grants.

Audits by HUD and Florida's State Housing Initiatives Partnership revealed dozens of irregularities.

Miller has credited West with helping to turn the department around by creating stringent contract review policies and arranging for employees to get grant management training from HUD.

"She's doing all the right things," Miller said.

Janet Zink can be reached at 813 226-3401 or jzink@sptimes.com

[Last modified January 12, 2006, 01:21:24]