HANO ex-consultant admits taking bribes
Company paid him $45,000, officials say
Thursday, November 16, 2006
West Bank bureau
A former consultant to the Housing Authority of New Orleans pleaded guilty to bribery, federal officials announced Wednesday.
James Lozano, 54, of Atlanta, pleaded guilty to bribery in connection with the use of federal funds, according to a press release from U.S. Attorney Jim Letten, Special Agent in Charge James Bernazzani of the New Orleans FBI office and Special Agent in Charge Thomas Luke of the Department of Housing and Urban Development's inspector general's office.
Lozano was a HANO consultant for the construction of the Fischer Senior Housing Village in Algiers. Federal officials say Lozano was paid about $45,000 in bribes to influence HANO to pay invoices to a construction company that had been in a dispute with the housing agency.
Lozano faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 13.
Activists link homelessness to federal spending priorities:
Mortgage-holders get more aid than poor
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
By Gwen Filosa
Cutbacks in federal affordable-housing programs over the past quarter century caused "massive homelessness" on American streets, according to a report released Tuesday by a California-based advocacy group.
Since 1996, the Department of Housing and Urban Development has spent nothing directly on construction of new public housing while more than 100,000 public housing units have been demolished, sold off or redeveloped during the same time period, the report found.
Instead, HUD has relied on the Hope VI grant program that it administers to transform distressed public housing, such as the St. Thomas and Desire complexes in New Orleans, into mixed-income neighborhoods that invariably deliver fewer subsidized homes.
"The federal government is spending money on housing, but not on developing and preserving affordable housing," according to the study, "Without Housing: Decades of Federal Housing Cutbacks, Massive Homelessness, and Policy Failures," by the Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP) in San Francisco.
Agencies in charge of housing New Orleans' poor prefer not to
October 30, 2006
Sara Gran
Former residents of New Orleans public housing, along with housing activists
and attorneys, have filed a lawsuit against the Housing Authority of New
Orleans and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. They've
sued for former housing project residents' right to return home.
No one thinks the projects are ideal. But rents have nearly doubled in some
parts of New Orleans since the hurricane. It's harder to get housing now,
not easier. And yet it's now, just when they're needed the most, that HANO
and HUD seem to have lost interest in low-income housing entirely.
To hear HANO's side of the story, it's doing the plaintiffs a favor by
locking them out of their homes. In the Oct. 18 Times-Picayune, HANO
described its holdings as "deteriorated, obsolete" housing located in areas
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/09/22/jackson-blocked-democrats
EXCLUSIVE: Agency Report Shows Secretary Personally Blocked Contracts To
Democrats
In April, Housing Secretary Alphonso Jackson told a group of real estate
officials that he once canceled a government contract because the contractor
was critical of President Bush. Awarding contracts based on political
leanings “violates federal law.” Jackson is a “longtime Bush friend” and
former neighbor in Dallas, Texas.
The Inspector General for the Department of Housing and Urban Development
has conducted a detailed investigation and produced a 340-page report
detailing his findings. The agency has given a copy to Jackson, but refused
to release the report to the public.
ThinkProgress has obtained the executive summary. Here are some key
excerpts:
– “During the investigation, Secretary JACKSON’s Chief of Staff, as well as
the HUD Deputy Secretary testified that, in a senior staff meeting, JACKSON
Easy Answer: Re-open all public housing in New Orleans.
http://www.hssno.com/
Welcome
On September 29 and 30, 2006, the Housing Solutions Summit will be held in New Orleans at the Ernest Morial Convention Center in Hall J. The Summit will feature national and local experts who will provide detailed guidance and information regarding the regional rebuilding process. This event will be an invaluable resource to homeowners, landlords, contractors, and investors.
The Summit will be "kicked off" by Governor Kathleen Blanco, Mayor Ray Nagin, Mr. Daniel Packer, President of Entergy New Orleans, and Honorable Oliver Thomas, President of the New Orleans City Council.
Other participants will include:
• From the Louisiana Recovery Authority - Road Home Program, Executive Director Andrew Kopplin, Walter Leger (Chairman of Housing) and Donna Fraiche (Chairperson of Long Term Community Planning).
• Representatives from the IRS, HUD, and the Louisiana Department of Economic Development will describe tax credits for both consumers and developers.
Court clears Wal-Mart at St. Thomas site
By AP
2006-09-19 6:24 AM CST
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The federal and city governments did all the studies they needed to redevelop a New Orleans housing project in a historic area into a 200,000-square-foot Wal-Mart store and some housing, a federal appeals court ruled Monday.
Noting that much of the project - including the Wal-Mart, which opened in late 2004 - have been completed, the 5th Circuit said the case was still open because work had not begun on rehabilitating five of the development's original buildings when Hurricane Katrina hit.
And, it noted, the plaintiffs "challenge far more than the building demolition."
The court found that none of HUD's decisions or studies was arbitrary or capricious.
Among other things, challengers contended that a study was needed because it would "demolish, convert or substantially rehabilitate 2,500 or more existing units." The court accepted HUD's argument that it was demolishing or rehabilitating 1,510, and building 1,282.
An Email from the Office of Stacey Head:
Last week I learned that HANO had let a contract for $500,000 to have the Lambert Advisory Group and Shelia Danzey engage in planning for the public housing developments in New Orleans. I obtained a copy of that contract from Council Research's office, which had apparently been provided that contract by HANO. It was executed on behalf of HANO by the HUD receiver. This contract is set for the discussion during the Council's housing committee meeting on Monday at 10:30. So that I can be prepared for this meeting, I have requested the following information from the receiver: 1) the genesis of this contract; 2) the reason that the $500,000 dollar figure was used; and 3) why a public bid was not performed.
If you or your groups have any interest in this matter, you are welcome to attend the meeting. Also, feel free to express any thoughts you have to my colleagues on the housing committee, Mr. Thomas or Ms. Willard-Lewis, or me.
Finally, if you like, pass this e-mail on to anyone you believe may be interested.
Articles on the St. Thomas Public Housing Development.
Articles on the St. Bernard Public Housing Development.