The Minneapolis Public Housing Authority (MPHA) has ceased to operate in the public interest and must now be considered a rogue agency, captured by private interests. The Defend Glendale & Public Housing Coalition (DG&PHC) has long been aware of MPHA’s track record of misleading and intimidating residents, but recent revelations shock even the most experienced and jaded observer.
Public documents newly obtained by DG&PHC reveal that MPHA has secretly signed a contract with the financial advisory firm CSG Advisors, Inc. totaling up to $300,000, to be paid out between May 2017 and April 2018[1]. These contracts include $27,585 allocated for reviewing “alternate development scenarios” for the Glendale Townhomes area and developing a budget for this plan. This is a clear violation of a unanimous 2015 City Council Resolution that declared, “any redevelopment in the Glendale Townhomes area and any redevelopment or improvement plan for that area will follow a separate, open, transparent public process that will include participation of Glendale residents.”
It is completely unacceptable and frankly stunning that MPHA has completely disregarded this resolution and proceeded with a behind-closed-doors planning process for Glendale that would never have come to light without the vigilance of DG&PHC. Additional public documents revealed that a “Portfolio Day” event held by MPHA with CSG and other private firms on October 26, 2017 included time set aside to “develop a plan” for Glendale and all other properties currently owned by MPHA. How many private firms and public officials were let in on MPHA’s schemes without revealing them to the public?
MPHA has vociferously denied allegations that they are planning to redevelop Glendale, going to incredible lengths to silence DG&PHC. In an August 31, 2017 article in the TC Daily Planet about MPHA’s plans for redeveloping Glendale, MPHA Communications Director Jeff Horwich claims “there is still no plan – nothing even close.” He went on to specifically attack and impugn the integrity of DG &PHC for correctly asserting that MPHA was actively planning for the redevelopment of Glendale without input or approval from residents. This article was published over a month after the first payments had been made to CSG, and over 4 months after MPHA signed a contract with CSG specifically directing them to create a “Glendale Development Strategy.” In other words, Jeff Horwich lied. In this era of “alternative facts” and “fake news,” we cannot continue to give MPHA carte blanche to mislead and lie to the public. MPHA cannot be trusted; their statements should be assumed to be misleading at best, outright lies at worst.
If this weren’t damning enough, background research on the CSG team working with MPHA reveals a history of corruption. Tanya Dempsey, the lead on many of the tasks MPHA has assigned to CSG, previously worked for the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) while they underwent an extensive “portfolio modernization” effort not unlike the current “portfolio assessment” MPHA has undertaken. In 2014, NYCHA hired CSG to act as a financial advisor during this process. Among other tasks, CSG helped NYCHA convert the formerly public Ocean Bay development to private ownership through a process called Rental Assistance Demonstration (commonly referred to as RAD). This is the same process Glendale Residents, along with DG&PHC and concerned neighbors, rejected in 2015. The aforementioned City Council Resolution was a major victory for residents, protecting them from MPHA’s plans for RAD conversion of Glendale, which would have displaced residents and privatized Glendale.
Apparently impressed with CSG’s work (and unsatisfied with her $145,000 annual salary), Dempsey decided it would be appropriate to apply for a job at CSG while continuing to work with them on behalf of NYCHA. According to NY Daily News, “for months, she continued signing off on checks for CSG and working with the firm on NYCHA projects while emailing back and forth about snagging a job at CSG.” Brazen in her duplicity, Dempsey even joked with CSG employees about how some of her coworkers at NYCHA were actually “future clients.” She succeeded in changing employers in early 2015, but was later forced to pay a $9,500 fine to settle charges filed by New York City’s Conflict of Interest Board, after a whistleblower at NYCHA alerted New York’s Department of Investigation (DOI). During their investigation, the DOI discovered that CSG and Dempsey had won a new contract with NYCHA shortly after Dempsey switched jobs, in spite of the obvious conflict of interest.
Unperturbed (or perhaps enticed) by their history of unethical behavior, as of November 29, 2017, MPHA has paid CSG Advisors $181,794.70, or an average of just over $6,000 per week since the beginning of their contract period. This wanton spending of public money on a company with a history of ethical violations, tasked with creating secret development plans in violation of a City Council resolution no less, cannot be tolerated.
The revolving door between public agencies and private firms that depend on government contracts reveal exactly why privatization is so popular with politicians and public officials. To put it bluntly, there is good money to be made by selling public assets. Aware that the public does not share their passion for privatization, and fearful that their plans to redevelop and privatize much of the public housing stock in Minneapolis will be deeply unpopular, MPHA has chosen to proceed in secret. They have hired privatization experts with a documented history of unethical behavior in order to force their plans through. Who will hold MPHA accountable and defend residents from this increasingly unhinged and anti-democratic agency? Why is this public money, our tax dollars, going straight to the pockets of private developers and not being used to keep Minneapolis Public Housing public? This money should be put to use to protect the many thousands of residents of MPHA! These residents are low income, seniors, Black, Muslim, refugees, people of color, and disabled. DG&PHC will continue to fight for these residents in spite of the misleading attacks on our integrity by MPHA and the deafening silence from the white media in Minneapolis.
To read more about this stunning example of corruption and the revolving door between public agencies and the private firms that depend on government contracts, please see NY Daily News’ coverage on the scandal surrounding Tanya Dempsey’s tenure at NYCHA and subsequent departure for CSG:
http://www.nydailynews.com/new
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