16037: (Hermantin)Sun Sentinel-Haitian, W. Palm reviews Haitian council's handling of l (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>


W. Palm reviews Haitian council's handling of landlord referrals


By Leon Fooksman
Staff Writer

June 25, 2003

Some Haitian American Community Council managers are being investigated for
steering AIDS clients toward landlords with ties to the agency's employees,
West Palm Beach City Administrator Ed Mitchell said Tuesday.

West Palm Beach launched the inquiry last week following complaints an
unspecified number of managers may have had conflicts of interest in placing
clients in homes owned by the organization's employees or their business
acquaintances, Mitchell said. The city oversees more than $300,000 a year in
federal money given to the council to provide housing for AIDS clients.

"The matters that came to the city's attention are being investigated as to
whether there was a conflict of interest," said Samuel Thomas, a city
attorney.

Mitchell declined to name the managers or the properties under
investigation.

West Palm Beach is the third of the council's four government financial
backers investigating conflict-of-interest issues with management of the
Delray Beach-based organization.

The Palm Beach County Department of Community Services and the Children's
Services Council of Palm Beach County have raised concerns in the past two
weeks that the organization's director, Daniella Henry, and former
supervisor, Gethro Louis Jean, bought a house together in West Palm Beach
while they were co-workers. Louis Jean also has operated an immigration,
personal-injury and translation service company, Legacy Service Center,
using the Haitian council's Lantana address while he was working for the
organization, according to state records and Louis Jean's business card.

The two agencies placed the council under closer supervision and required
Henry and the five board members to affirm the organization's
conflict-of-interest policies. They also will need to resolve other
administrative problems, such as poor record keeping, that were pinpointed
by the agencies. The county and CSC together give the Haitian group nearly
$300,000 to provide clients with immigration assistance and social services.

Haitian council board member Barry Silver said he didn't know anything about
West Palm Beach's investigation and couldn't comment.

Neither Henry nor board President Carolyn Zimmerman could be reached by
phone Tuesday night.

Mitchell said the city's attorneys and finance and economic-development
officials are investigating the council's allegations with support from the
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which gives the AIDS
housing money to the city and oversees it. West Palm Beach disburses the
federal money to other agencies providing housing for AIDS clients.

Mitchell didn't immediately know how many AIDS clients are served by the
Haitian council's program. The city also hasn't yet released the names of
the landlords affiliated with the program.

The federal money overseen by the agency pays for all or part of the
clients' rental payments. The payments are supposed to be paid to the
landlord.

Mitchell said he wasn't sure when the inquiry will be completed.

"We are doing our background work to determine what happened with our
funds," Mitchell said.

If the city finds severe problems, it may consider dropping the council and
selecting another agency to oversee the money, city officials said.

Leon Fooksman can be reached at lfooksman@sun-sentinel.com.
Copyright © 2003, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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