When the City of Inglewood administration ran into trouble owing to waste, fraud and abuse that was rampant in the Section 8 Housing Program (as cited in the HUD audits of 2003, 2004 and 2005), those responsible took measures to cover up the problems instead of fixing them. Four million dollars of general fund money was quietly transferred into the housing account to cover the significant losses. This was money that could have been spent on neighborhood streets and sidewalks.

Since no one was held accountable and little to nothing was done to fix the problems, the mismanagement continued. In ensuing years, up- wards of $100k per month of general fund money was still being used to subsidize this federal program. General fund money is money for local neighborhood streets, sidewalks and other general government purposes. If it is being used to subsidize a mismanaged Housing Program, then it is not going to be available to resurface streets, trim trees or fill potholes. Even HUD stated that Inglewood residents were the losers in these money transfers. More recent HUD audit findings resulted in the city being forced to “write off” what amounted to a $5 million general fund “loan” to the Housing fund or risk losing all future funding. This action took place at the March 6, 2012 city council meeting.

The question has been asked, “Couldn’t the city have asked HUD for reimbursement of this money so the general fund could be repaid?” The answer is, “Yes, the city could have, but it didn’t.” No one in administration ever got around to filling out the paperwork for the $5 million reimbursement.

We now have a Housing Manager overseeing the Section 8 Program who will make sure that this lack of program oversight never again occurs. Secondly, as of October 1, 2012, we have a new Chief Financial Officer/Assistant City Manager, David Esparza, who will be examining the City’s processes and procedures for both reporting and accounting of all outside funds coming into the city. His many years of financial management expertise will bring a much-needed level of accountability to Inglewood residents and taxpayers. Check out the city’s Web site to read the background on the March 6, 2012 agenda item describing the $5 million dollar write off to the general fund. Also, the video of the meeting is available in the city clerk’s office or in the library. HUD audits are public records. members of the public should be aware of this form of due diligence available to them.