If it were a test, the Española Public Housing Authority would have done worse than just an “F” — it would have scored a flat-out zero.
In an audit completed Aug. 19, the federal Housing and Urban Development Department categorized the Authority as “Troubled” for the sixth consecutive year, warning that mismanagement and a total lack of accountability have left the agency open to fraud and potential litigation.
But “Troubled” just means a housing program scored below 60 percent on a set of 15 fiscal and administrative indicators. Española’s Authority scored no points at all, the audit states. Because it lacks controls and documentation, it is likely charging poor people too much for their rent and utilities, playing games with the waiting list, letting units sit vacant and renting unsafe apartments, the audit states.
“The conditions at the (Authority) at the time of this review are so egregious that it appears unlikely that the (Authority) will be able to correct the deficiencies within a reasonable time,” the audit states.
New Housing Board member Francisco Simbona was named Board chair Aug. 21. He likened the situation to coming home after a tornado has come through — you start picking up the wreckage piece by piece, he said. The Authority has just not been following government orders, Simbona said.
“It’s as simple as that,” Simbona said.
Authority Low-Rent Coordinator Eluvina Vigil, who until Monday was acting director, said the federal reviewers spent very little time reviewing documents and did not consult with staff. Vigil contests many of the audit’s findings.
“All they had to do was ask questions,” Vigil said.
Department Program Coordinator Floyd Duran did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
Impending Takeover
The Department had already set Sept. 30 as the deadline for corrective action, and it reiterated that if the city of Española cannot find a capable agency to address the audit’s 30 findings, the Department will have no choice but to take over the Authority.
The city tried to hire Taos contractor Beatrice Silva in July but she turned down the contract, saying the work was neither feasible nor particularly profitable. Following the release of the newest audit, city Community Services Director Leroy Garcia was named interim Authority director; he started the job Monday.
“I honestly think the main thing is to start looking at fundamental things,” Garcia said. “How are we procuring things? How are we hiring people?”
Garcia, who was still reviewing the audit Tuesday, said he has never worked in housing before. New Housing Board member George Martinez will immediately begin prioritizing and addressing the identified deficiencies, Garcia said.
The Department’s audit points the finger for most deficiencies at “the former Executive Director,” which depending on the timeframe could be Rick Vigil, who left in October 2007, or Cy Martinez who left in May of this year. The former directors did not address blatant deficiencies, and they did not hold their staff accountable for compliance, the audit states.
Eluvina Vigil said under Rick Vigil and former deputy director Susan Mondragon de Quintana, staff were largely kept in the dark.
“None of us have ever gone to training until Rick left,” Eluvina Vigil said.
Neither former director could be reached for comment.
Garcia said in the long term, the city would like its Housing Board to operate independently, with the city acting only as a fiscal agent. But right now, city officials need to step in and handle the program’s immediate needs, he said.
The Department’s audit includes the following findings:
• The Authority allowed a second police officer to move into the Calle del Pajarito housing complex without Department approval, which denies housing to a family on the waiting list. Furthermore, police officers are late on rent payments.
Vigil said the rent ledgers were for officers no longer living in Authority housing, and the Authority does have authorization for State Police officers Chris Rodriguez and Israel Rodriguez to live at Pajarito.
• The Authority allows the San Martin de Porres soup kitchen to use a community building at the Apple Valley housing complex without prior Department approval.
“The (Authority) is paying the utility costs for the non-profit’s activities,” the audit states. “A city councilor serves on the Board of the non-profit entity and is in a position of conflict with respect to decisions made about the relationship between the two entities.”
In fact, three sitting city councilors currently serve on the soup kitchen’s board: Eddie Maestas, Alice Lucero and Helen Kain Salazar. Although Maestas is a vocal booster of and volunteer for the organization, he said he didn’t know he was on the board and would like to remove himself if it’s an issue.
“I don’t know anything about that,” Maestas said. “I know that I’m a captain.”
Kitchen Director Suzan Roybal said the meal program has been in operation since 1993, and former housing director Leroy Salazar had always assured her the city would support it. She would simply write an annual letter requesting the use of the facility for $1.
“Ever since we’ve been in there they’ve lent it to us rent-free,” Roybal said. “I wasn’t aware that (the Department) didn’t know about it.”
According to city documents, the kitchen’s utility bill is less than $60 per month.
• The Authority has no proper waiting list — its list does not identify an applicant’s income category, it is not sorting applicants based on when they applied and some applications were simply left off the waiting list.
• In 16 of a sample 17 files, there was no evidence that the Authority had determined the reasonableness of the tenants’ rent. Rents to housing owners often exceeded the Authority’s payment standards, which burdens the very people the Authority is supposed to help.
• All 17 sample files failed a process of income verification, along with the calculation of rent and utility allowances. In other words, the Authority didn’t verify that applicants’ stated income was correct. Tenant files were missing basic documents like the lease, the application, Social Security cards and immigration status for non-citizens.
“The (Authority) is susceptible to fraud when independent verifications are not performed,” the audit states.
• The Authority violated federal law when it allowed families to skirt the Department’s community-service requirement.