Housing authority may face additional complaints

Adrienne Packer

Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2002 | 11:09 a.m.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation's decision Monday not to pursue an investigation into a public relations contract awarded by the Las Vegas Housing Authority doesn't protect the agency from further complaints, a board member said.

Housing authority board member Dewain Steadman, who asked the FBI to investigate, said he will consider pursuing another investigation into Housing Authority Executive Director Frederick Brown.

And Las Vegas resident Amelia Coulston, upset with the manner in which the public relations contract was awarded, said today she filed a complaint with the Nevada Ethics Commission.

The complaints, calls for investigation and controversy erupted after housing board members learned that Brown signed an $84,000 a year public affairs contract with Tribeca Media and Clark County Commissioner Dario Herrera's Herrera Communications Group. On Monday, the Housing Authority accepted Herrera and Tribeca Media owner Lucie Melchert's offer to back out of the deal.

Coulston said she decided to pursue her complaint despite the FBI's decision.

"There is something there that doesn't smell right," Coulston said of the FBI's decision. "I have been going to the meetings, I have seen what's going on. Money is being wasted."

Brown, the target of Coulston's ethics complaint, awarded Tribeca Media the contract in November after sending out a request for proposals.

Brown said he then asked Melchert to share the contract with Herrera, who never took part in the bidding process. Each has been paid $3,500 a month since November.

Brown, who acted on Herrera's campaign exploratory committee before Herrera announced his candidacy for Congress, had paid Herrera previously for additional consulting work.

Steadman filed the complaint with the FBI, arguing that Brown violated the federal Hatch Act. The act prohibits directors of certain public agencies from engaging in partisan politics.

Gayle Jacobs, spokeswoman for the FBI, said her agency reviewed the case and will not pursue it.

"There is no violation we're aware of," she said.

Herrera could not be reached for comment today.

Steadman said he is satisfied with the FBI's review of Herrera's involvement, but believes the board should pursue an investigation into Brown's actions. Steadman said he does not believe Brown should have been paying Herrera for previous consulting work without the board's knowledge.

"If there is no cohesiveness with the board, than as a citizen I will ask for a reinvestigation by Metro and the FBI," Steadman said. "We're dealing with public funds, taxpayers dollars. We need to look into fraud and mismanagement."

According to housing authority policies, Brown was permitted to award the contract without board approval. However, he was required to inform the board of the expenditure during the December meeting. Board members had never heard of the contract until they were contacted by the Sun earlier this month.

Bob Forbuss, chairman of the board, said today that he met with Brown on Friday and Monday to determine how the issuance of the contract unfolded.

"I want to say let's put this behind us," Forbuss said. "It's in our best interest to accept the offer put forth by Tribeca and Mr. Herrera."

Board members earlier this month said they believe it is unnecessary for a housing agency responsible for housing low-income residents and senior citizens to spend money on public relations.

They also questioned why they weren't informed that a public official with Clark County was being paid by a city agency.

Forbuss said the board will review the policy that allows the executive director to approve expenditures of more than $25,000 without board approval. The board will also discuss whether the agency needs public relations, he said.

"Personally, I don't think PR is a bad thing," he said. "I don't think it's a bad thing to promote our organization."

The housing authority is nationally recognized by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development as one of the country's most effective agencies, Forbuss said. He added that he hoped the contract dispute would not mar the agency's reputation.

"I believe the process to select a PR firm was fair and reasonable but unfortunately Mr. Brown did not inform the board to his action because he believed he had the authority to act through the budget process," Forbuss said.