PHA suspends contracts with outside consultants

As federal investigators scrutinize the books and operations of the Philadelphia Housing Authority, the agency has suspended all contracts with outside consultants and lawyers until further notice.

In a two-paragraph letter sent Thursday to 22 businesses, PHA also told its consultants to submit billings for the last three years as well as documents supporting work that was completed.

The notices were signed by Shelley James, PHA's contracting officer, per the instructions of the authority's board chairman, former Mayor John F. Street.

Street said in an interview that the five-member board needed to "get our arms around" the agency's spending. He said the goal was to determine who is performing "critical functions."

PHA is operating under a cloud of uncertainty following revelations about Executive Director Carl R. Greene, his apparent mistreatment of employees, four sexual harassment complaints, and questions about nonprofits he created under the auspices of the Housing Authority.

Greene, who is seeking treatment at an undisclosed medical facility for stress-related issues, was suspended by the board on Aug. 26 for 30 days.

For one of the nonprofits - the Pennsylvania Institute of Affordable Housing Professionals (PIAHP) - the Housing Authority decided this week to suspend weekly payments from employees.

Nonunion employees had been pressured to pay $2.12 a week to the nonprofit, reportedly for "team-building" social outings.

Nichole Tillman, a PHA spokeswoman, said the payments were suspended because there were no activities planned.

Street said the decision to stop the payments was made quickly by staff and the board. "Everyone is happy about it," Street said, "especially the people who were paying it."

The U.S. attorney has subpoenaed PHA for PIAHP's records, as well as documents for two other organizations started by PHA and a scholarship fund named for Greene.

Greene, who is paid more than $300,000 a year, is facing financial problems. The IRS in December 2009 slapped him for $52,000 in unpaid taxes for four years.

Last spring, Wells Fargo Bank foreclosed on his $615,000 townhouse in the Naval Square development in southwest Center City after three missed mortgage payments.

PHA is the subject of an investigation by the U.S. attorney as well as an audit by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

HUD has long criticized the Philadelphia agency, which provides housing for the city's poorest residents and has 32,000 people on a waiting list for homes, for excessive spending on outside experts.

For lawyers alone, PHA has paid 15 firms a total of $33 million since 2007, according to PHA documents.

PHA's five-member board of directors is independently investigating the four sexual harassment complaints against Greene.

Central to that probe is what the board members knew and when they knew it.

Street has insisted that he only recently learned about the multiple sexual harassment complaints - three that were settled for a combined $648,000 and one that is pending.

The chief executive and president of Cozen O'Connor, Thomas "Tad" Decker, said Thursday that his firm was fired from representing PHA after recommending that the board be informed of all issues related to a 2008 sexual harassment complaint filed by a senior management specialist.

The case was later settled for $350,000, according to PHA documents.

The board recently identified another outside attorney who worked on that settlement, Elizabeth Malloy of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, a Pittsburgh firm with a Philadelphia office. She did not return phone calls or an e-mail seeking comment.

According to the PHA board, Malloy is representing PHA on the pending sexual harassment complaint filed by a 29-year-old interior designer, Elizabeth Helm.

Last April, Helm filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission. She accused Greene of making unwanted advances at a Center City bar during a discussion about her job.

PHA and its insurer have made an offer to settle the case for $250,000, but Helm refuses to sign a confidentiality clause.

The other lawyer representing PHA in that case - former in-house attorney Leigh Poltrock, now with Cohen & Grigsby in Pittsburgh - did not return phone calls or an e-mail seeking comment.