Complaint filed against housing agency official

David Kihara

Monday, May 16, 2005 | 10:59 a.m.

A Las Vegas Housing Authority board member has filed a formal complaint with the federal government, claiming that the deputy director of the agency inappropriately approved spending more than $150,000 for a private contractor without board approval.

The contract was made more controversial when a tape recording of an April 22 board meeting where the matter was discussed mysteriously had portions erased. The problem with the tape prompted the board to vote on the matter again at a meeting Friday.

Commissioner Beatrice Turner filed the complaint with the Housing and Urban Development Department's inspector general last week. Her letter states that deputy director Richard Martinez, with the approval of Housing Authority Director Parviz Ghadiri, approved increasing the fees of a contract with ABT Associates Inc. The letter says the board was not consulted.

ABT Associates Inc. is a Boston-based consulting firm paid to help the authority in training and other matters.

"It appears that the executive management of the LVHA (with the cooperation of certain board members) is free to sole-source contracts for large sums of public money without regard to federal regulation or board governance," Turner's letter states.

The board originally approved a contract with ABT Associates Inc. on Aug. 13, 2004, for $50,000. The board was allegedly not told in December and March when an additional $161,000 was approved to go to the contractor.

To confuse matters more, portions of an audio recording of the April board meeting at which the contract was discussed was erased.

"The tape stopped working at the important agenda items," Turner said.

Ghadiri said the tape recording of the April 22 meeting had indeed been erased or not recorded but blamed it on an "equipment malfunction."

Martinez said he approved the $161,000 increases to ABT Associates Inc. as a "staff business decision" in order to remain in compliance with HUD regulations involving contract matters.

He said the board members are procedurally required to approve contracts, but considered the increases to ABT Associates Inc. as a business matter that didn't require board approval.

Despite the controversy surrounding the contract, the board ratified the increases to the contractor during Friday's meeting.

Although Turner voted against ratifying the increase to ABT Associates Inc. at the meeting, Commissioners Franny Forsman and Don Davidson and Housing Authority Chairman Robert Gronauer approved the increase.

Authority Vice Chairman Bill Gonzales was not present at Friday's meeting.

Although Forsman initially objected to ratifying the increase to ABT Associates -- saying that Martinez essentially went ahead without board approval -- she relented because ABT had already completed the work and it would be wrong to not pay it for services, she said.

"I don't have a choice."