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Ventura's Housing Authority fires auditor
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More from Other NewsVentura's Housing Authority fired its auditor Thursday, then immediately hired a replacement to complete a mandated audit.
By a 6-0 vote, the Housing Authority of San Buenaventura board terminated auditor Wallace Rowe & Associates at a special meeting. The board then hired Thomas Sever, a Santa Barbara auditor who has worked for the agency in the past. Housing commissioner Sanjuana Gonzalez was absent.
Sever will be paid $22,000.
The Housing Authority has until the end of the month to submit an audit of its 2006 budget, which Rowe had refused to sign off on. Rowe and the agency have been at odds over the authority's financial ability to pay for rent subsidies to nearly 2,600 low-income Ventura residents. Rowe believes the authority is headed toward insolvency.
The authority has asked federal regulators for a two-month extension to complete its audit, board Chairwoman Kay Doyle said.
"This was done to get our audit completed," Doyle said of Rowe's termination. "That is our single goal, so we can move forward with the work of our agency without this interfering."
Doyle said Rowe would be notified of his firing by mail. He was not present at the meeting. He will be paid for "work completed," Doyle said, declining to elaborate further.
Reached at his office in Northern California, Rowe declined to comment.
The authority, an agency independent from the city, has appealed to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for additional federal money. The agency wants money for 100 additional vouchers, or roughly $85,000 a month, officials said.
Without the money, the authority will have to continue a freeze on new vouchers and reduce the amount of existing ones, forcing tenants to pay more, its letter to HUD states.
Posted by smithjc on June 15, 2007 at 11:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)
"This was done to get our audit completed," Doyle said of Rowe's termination. "That is our single goal, so we can move forward with the work of our agency without this interfering."
god forbid that somebody complete an accurate, truthful audit, rather than "interfering". someone needs to look into the housing authority and find the truth about what's going on. and if people need to go to jail, so be it.
Posted by Whosaidwhat on June 15, 2007 at 12:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
this has so much to do with money....ahhh, my fellow vc citizens have grown to be so corrupted.
Posted by madmilt on June 15, 2007 at 12:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)
If this was a legal audit, why is it the subject being audited (The Housing Authority) has the ability to control the auditors??? Seems fishy to me...
Posted by Ventura22 on June 15, 2007 at 1:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Wow! An auditor uncovered the truth and gets fired. That figures. Did they expect someone to just sign-off on something that's not right? apparently so. Sounds like the auditor was doing their job well and did what they should have done.
So let me get this straight: a VC agency undergoes an audit. They find discrepencies(no suprise) and address the issue as they are supposed to. When they see so much that doesn't add-up, the refuse to sign-off on it. The county disagrees(of course) so they then fire the auditor?? What is the point of even having an outside audit done if the county is going to simply fire them when they uncover shortfalls? Then, they get to hire someone who they can get to sign-off on things, once they've had the chance to do a better job re-hiding all the stuff uncovered by the first auditing group.
This whole thing screams corruption. Seems so typical of a county agency operating under the current CEO. They hate hearing the truth from a third party; be it the grand jury or an auditor.
Posted by bwall on June 15, 2007 at 2:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Agree, however, the Housing Authority is not a County agency. They are federally funded and ran by elected board of supervisors who determine their fate. If the Executive Director is good enough, then he can sway the board to do as he wills. Which is usually the case. Just look at the Housing Authority in Newbury Park. That ED forced a raise for himself and a higher car allowance when all of the employee's raises have been frozen for over 3 years! This doesn't surprise me that they got caught in the act, and it wouldn't surprise me if the other agencies were corrupt as well.
They should be there to help the people they are suppose to be serving, such as the elderly who can't afford the high rents in this area, or the disabled who can't afford it on their own either. But most of the higher ups are self serving.
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