Doubts cloud group's deals

A Tampa community group gets a big perk in the city code, but questions arise.

By JANET ZINK
Published July 7, 2007

TAMPA - The law in the city of Tampa gives special status to a private nonprofit group in West Tampa that almost no other such group enjoys.

The city code says the West Tampa Community Development Corporation must review rezoning requests in the area before developers can plead their cases before the City Council.

So what is this group that gets a legally binding entree into city land use decisions?

It is an agency that is being looked at as part of a criminal investigation into whether neighborhood groups are asking developers for money in exchange for support of projects.

Its founder and chairwoman once voted in favor of $1-million worth of contracts for her own brother when she sat on the Tampa Housing Authority.

The group awarded a building contract to a bidder who then hired one of its board members as a subcontractor.

And its management of a federal grant has been described by one contractor as incompetent at best.

"They absolutely seemed out of their element and completely unfamiliar with the whole contracting process, " said Catherine Byrd, a general contractor the West Tampa Community Development Corporation selected to work on a $100, 000 federal grant awarded through the city to repair West Tampa storefronts.

She accuses the group of misleading property owners, and she said she had problems getting paid. She told the city she'd never work with the agency again.

The City Council now is considering removing the West Tampa CDC review requirement from the code, but the agency and residents are fighting the move.

"It has never been a problem, " said board chairwoman Margaret Fisher. "Why is it a problem now?"

Other "more sophisticated" neighborhoods may not need a formal rule on development review, but she said hers does.

"We are in a depressed area, " she said. "More than 50 percent of the people in our community don't have a computer. We get a notice, but it's not enough to really explain what is happening."

Inadequate records

The West Tampa Community Development Corporation's mission is to improve the social and economic conditions of the area. Fisher helped found the agency in 1999, two years after leaving the board of the Tampa Housing Authority, where she was criticized for voting in favor of $1-million worth of contracts for her brother without disclosing their relationship. She declined to comment on that issue Friday.

Other board members include Manny Alvarez, a banker and the husband of former City Council member Mary Alvarez; Darren Diaz, owner of Olympia Bakery; civic leader Randolph Kinsey; and pastor C.T. Kirkland.

A consultant earning $27, 000 a year runs day-to-day operations and helps manage the group's grants, including the $100, 000 the agency used to hire Byrd.

The group was entitled to keep $20, 000 of the grant for administration. But city housing officials said its record-keeping was so shoddy, they awarded it only $14, 077. Outside auditors questioned even that payment, saying there wasn't "adequate documentation" to support it.

Another federal grant, this one for $463, 000 to build three affordable homes, also raises questions about CDC practices.

Some of the money - at least $5, 400 - went to a subcontract for an air conditioning and heating business owned by CDC board member Rick Caldevilla, city officials said. The CDC also used the grant to pay Ray Horner, business partner of board member Joe Robinson, for consulting. A spokesman said Friday he didn't know how much Horner was paid.

Both transactions appear in conflict with rules of the grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. HUD officials said Friday they could not comment without more information. City housing officials said they would look into the matter.

Deals questioned

The West Tampa CDC enjoys an unusual status in the city code as part of the development review process. Most other neighborhood and community groups learn about projects through a standard neighborhood notice requirement.

The group was included in city code in 2004 at the urging of CDC board members.

City Council member Charlie Miranda thrust a spotlight on the CDC this month in a tirade against what he called "side deals" between developers and community groups. Miranda singled out arrangements between the CDC and developer Ken Morin. Morin offered two contracts worth $750, 000 to the CDC to fund affordable home building and rehabilitation programs after the agency objected that his developments didn't include any affordable housing.

Miranda implied the agreements gave the appearance of trading support for cash. He proposed new ethics rules. The CDC and Morin say there has been no wrongdoing.

Tampa police are conducting an investigation into the question of deals between developers and neighborhood groups, but no charges have been filed.

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

[Last modified July 7, 2007, 00:16:49]