Lee Brown: the legacy continues to grow
The Chronicle's Mike Snyder reports the following bad news about a Houston "affordable housing" program:
City officials are struggling to limit financial losses and protect tenants' rent restrictions after the top recipient of the city's apartment loan program plunged into bankruptcy and default.
The developer, Don Sowell of Prairie View, has received $19.1 million from the city since 1999 through business ventures he created to buy and renovate Houston apartment developments and lease them to low-income tenants at reduced rents. The sum represents 27 percent of the city's federally funded apartment lending program.
[snip]
City officials said the potential loss of millions of dollars means that less money will be available to increase the city's stock of badly needed affordable housing. The problems with the loans to Sowell also illustrate the need for better management in the city's Housing and Community Development Department, officials said.
In other news, a former top aide to Mayor Brown and more recently to county commissioner Sylvia Garcia is facing legal charges:
A chief of staff to former Mayor Lee Brown was charged Tuesday in Ohio with accepting bribes in exchange for helping a Cleveland consultant who was trying to win city of Houston contracts.
The charge against Oliver Spellman, who more recently worked as a top aide to County Commissioner Sylvia Garcia, is part of a continuing investigation that already has resulted in the bribery indictment of a Cleveland city councilman.
Garcia said Spellman resigned suddenly Friday as her chief of staff for operations. As a precaution, in light of Tuesday's charges, Garcia said she has asked the county attorney to review all contracts handled by Spellman.
It could not be determined Tuesday night whether the city of Houston awarded any contracts to the consultant, who was alleged to have bribed Spellman with $2,000 to $3,000 cash and a Las Vegas hotel stay.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports further here. Neither newspaper could reach Brown, often derisively called "Out of Town Brown" when he was mayor, for comment.
Like the potholes he left behind, Lee Brown's legacy continues to grow.
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Posted by Kevin Whited @ 12/08/04 07:28 PM | Print |
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