DC council member slams housing authority; accuses DCHA of hiding serious issues

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - A D.C. lawmaker is calling for a broad inspector general investigation into the District’s housing authority.

The new D.C. Council Housing Committee Chair, Councilmember Robert White, held a news conference on Thursday calling for new leadership and a change in what he said is a continued culture of "extensive unethical and illegal behavior" at the D.C. Housing Authority.

There was a bit of a showdown on the Wilson Building steps. 

DCHA Director Brenda Donald

D.C. Housing Director Brenda Donald appeared with the Housing Board president and resident member after being informed about it from someone other than the council member or his office.

White accused the agency of not being transparent. He claimed that he’s requested audit reports from the housing authority in the past but that the agency would not share, so his office complied and sent it out to news organizations on Thursday.

One of four specific reports White noted, involved a housing employee allegedly handing out vouchers to family and friends. White told reporters 53 of the 61 vouchers at one building are questionable.

"As a Washingtonian who has watched as people struggle to keep a roof over their head, and fight slum conditions, it makes me so angry that people who are paid with taxpayer money to house and protect some of the most vulnerable people in our community have acted entirely in self-interest and have profited off of displacement," Councilmember White said. 

At-Large D.C. Councilmember Robert White

D.C. Housing Authority Director Brenda Donald referred to the audits the council member mentioned as important – but also isolated, personnel matters, arguing they aren't a sign of systemic housing abuse.

Donald told reporters she notified the appropriate parties and said that the audit reports in question were submitted for the committee’s oversight hearing in February.

FOX 5 asked Director Donald how tenants can trust DCHA when this information is being shared by the council and not the agency.

"I don’t know what the releasing reports that are going down an investigative track have to do with transparency to our residents," Donald said. "Our residents see me and my team every single day, on the properties, teams of people going out, inspecting individual units, making sure that we understand the – the repairs that need to be done…"

That’s what residents want, she added

The damming 72-page report released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in October said DCHA was failing its residents from mismanagement of funds to public safety.

Donald told reporters she expects the agency will meet HUD’s compliance requirements in the time given to do so.

While Donald described the audits as "isolated personnel," Daniel Del Pielago with the tenant-advocate group, Empower D.C., told FOX 5 residents have been raising such concerns administration-after-administration.

Del Pielago told FOX 5 that he's "concerned that the housing authority keeps on trying to act like, ‘Hey, there’s nothing to see here, you know. Move along."

Karen Settles told FOX 5 she is a former DCHA Board resident member. 

"I think it’s a breath of fresh air but I think it falls very short because his audience should not be only with asking questions of the housing authority and not receiving any answers," she said. "He should be town-halling all over this city with residents, the recipients of this mess." 

Settles called the director’s response a "dog and pony show." She feels those in power from the city’s mayor need to be held accountable.

In addition to calling for the inspector general to open a broad DCHA investigation, White is also calling for more people to come forward and report DCHA housing fraud. He spoke of working on new legislation that would lead to greater transparency.

There are still over 10,000 open maintenance work orders, with many of them emergencies, White told reporters. He also said over 2,000 units needed are still inhabitable.  

Donald said DCHA has renovated 500 units in the last year with another 500 on track to be updated.

The D.C. housing director also noted there are still over 35,000 on the D.C. housing waiting list and that there is a process they must undergo first, but Donald does expect it to be opening soon.