Belatedly, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development is applying the kind of heat that the Chelsea Housing Authority needed to feel years ago. Between 2002 and 2009, the authority received $7 million in grants to modernize its low-income apartments. But the local agency seems not to have made many of the promised improvements; evidence suggests that, instead, now-deposed director Michael McLaughlin used much of the money to pay puffed-up salaries and expenses for himself and his top aides — right under the not-so-watchful eyes of the authority’s board, its auditors, the state, and HUD itself.
It was gratifying to learn, in a Globe story Monday, that HUD is considering whether to ask the Chelsea authority to repay the $7 million. The authority, in turn, revealed that it may seek money back from McLaughlin and from the auditors who reviewed the financial statements that his team submitted. The moves should make it clear that everyone in the public-housing funding chain — from HUD to state government to local authorities to their executives, board members, and auditors — bears some responsibility when money intended to assist low-income people instead helps facilitate a $360,000-a-year salary for a small city’s public housing director.
Comments
"Wasted" $7 million? No one seems to know what happened to the money and the Globe characterizes this as "waste"? How in the world is it possible to imagine this as anything BUT stolen money? Waste? The Globe meanders around, blaming "everyone" but misses the crux of the issue with all of these publicly run endeavors; there is NO accountability at any level and the only way to achieve some measure of accountability in the future is to privatize these functions. Oh my God, someone might actually make a "profit" you scream? Well that's the price we should pay to make sure those private operators are sued, indicted and held accountable for "wasting" (or would that then be called "stealing") $7 million when it disappears. The Globe wouldn't dream of calling this "waste" if a private vendor couldn't account for such an outrageous amount. The Globe, often rightly, laments the greed found in the private sector. But when the Globe finds a public sector actors that clearly steal $7 million (targeted for the poor no less) it merely "worries" about "waste" and who "might" be accountable.....someday. Want to stop "waste" like this in the future? Privatize the function and then fire or imprison incompetent or criminal management.
The common theme in all of these scandals is a lack of oversight. Private sector businesses typically stay in business because they're managed well. Burn through money without anything to show for it and you're out of business. There's no such thing that happens in the public sector. Without a profit motive things tend to be mismanaged. The stakes are much higher when you're managing to survive.
I'm with you. Privatize and get services delivered. Efficiencies will offset the premium for profit and those who are worthy of providing services will be hired by the private sector.
We learn of "waste" all the time. It makes me think there are very few Public employees that are actually qualified for the job they are supposed to do. How do you account for all the stories that keep popping up and nothing ever sems to be done to correct it?
By the way, I'm still waiting for the Globe's "glaring" report into the millions of dollars of EBT money the Herald has reported about today. Why does the Globe turn a blind eye to these thefts?
Thank God we're in a two paper town.
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