Housing authority faces HUD audit

Adrienne Packer

Wednesday, March 13, 2002 | 11:12 a.m.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development officials said Tuesday they plan to audit how the Las Vegas Housing Authority awards contracts following questions about the authority's high-profile public relations contract.

Ken LoBene, director of the Las Vegas HUD office, said representatives from the regional office in San Francisco will be in town March 25 to begin reviewing housing authority documents.

"They'll review procurement procedures, contracts awarded in recent years to see if the proper procedures and policies have been followed," said LoBene, noting that newspaper stories and complaints into an $84,000 public relations contract raised HUD's interest.

HUD's Office of Inspector General performs audits on various cities each year, LoBene said. Dewain Steadman, a housing authority board member, said Las Vegas was not scheduled to be audited this year.

"Everything that happened this last month brought this to a head," Steadman said. "This is a special investigation."

Steadman said the procurement process -- the process by which contracts are awarded -- is the most common method of "leaking" taxpayer money.

Steadman and other Housing Authority board members have questioned whether Executive Director Frederick Brown followed proper procedures when he awarded an $84,000 public relations contract without their knowledge.

Brown awarded the contract to Tribeca Media, then requested that the firm split it with Herrera Communications Group, a company operated Clark County Commission chairman Dario Herrera.

Other companies that bid on the contract complained they were passed over even though they were more qualified.

Brown said he acted under the housing authority's procedures in awarding the contract. The authority's procurement plan allows Brown to make purchases or award contracts of more than $25,000 if the items were approved in the budget. The plan also says the board must be told of such expenditures at the following meeting.

The contract awarded to Tribeca and Herrera Communications Group exceeded the budgeted amount by $9,000. And all five board members said they were never notified.

"It's something that's needed to clear the air with all the accusations that have been made," Las Vegas City Councilman Michael McDonald said. "Hopefully it will give the board an accurate look at what happened."

McDonald said he intends to ask for a city audit of the housing authority.