Homeless Board postpones ouster vote, seeks outside opinion
Written by Kristen Rapin | | krapin@toledofreepress.comThe Toledo Lucas County Homelessness Board (TLCHB) tabled a Feb. 5 vote to discuss the removal of one of its members, Ken Leslie.
At the meeting, board members decided to table the vote against Leslie, a founding member of the board, and a motion passed to have an outside agency look into conflict of interest allegations he made.
In an e-mail to fellow board members on Jan. 21, Leslie questioned possible conflicts of interest during the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP) citizens review committee process and the continual employment of a part-time TLCHB director. TLCHB President Paul Tecpanecatl responded to Leslie’s e-mail: “Your assertions, actions and accusations are out of line and detrimental to the business of the board. Per our by-laws, I am invoking Article III, Section 8 (removal for cause).”
Leslie said he thought board member Paula Lewis’ employment with Family Outreach Community United Services (FOCUS), after serving on the HPRP citizens review committee that allocated funds to that agency, is a conflict of interest.
“This isn’t about Mrs. Lewis’ personality or FOCUS’ hiring process, but black and white federal law. Someone cannot allocate funds to an agency and then take a job there,” Leslie said.
Leslie also stated Deborah Conklin, who works part-time as board director, should be replaced by someone who is full-time.
Leslie said as a member of the board, it is his job to question policies and actions the board may make.
“When they respond to an inquiry about the conflict of interest with an attempt to remove me, that begs even more questions,” Leslie said.
Fellow board member Dan Rogers said Leslie had “every right” to pose questions to the board.
“Ken should be asking these questions; he is a member of the board. In my opinion they are normal board questions,” said Rogers, president and CEO of Cherry Street Missions and TLCHB member. Rogers said, however, that the board’s actions to remove Leslie were not fueled by a bias against him.
A motion to remove Leslie was made at the board’s Jan. 21 meeting, but board members requested more documentation for the cause of removal, so a special meeting was scheduled, Rogers said.
Documentation provided by Tecpanecatl before the special meeting cited seven reasons for Leslie’s removal, including, “questioning of program funding allocations made by established board committees, continuous critical comments on the 1Matter.org Web site regarding the TLCHB’s funding decisions, procurement issues and other programmatic matters” and “continued questioning and accusations of our acting director’s decisions and alleged steering of contracts/funding to an agency where she was previously employed.”
“I think Ken’s heart is in the right place, but we can’t have this continued disruptive behavior on the board,” Tecpanecatl said. “We have no problem with dissent on the board, but once a decision has been made to move forward, we don’t move back.”
Members of the board were supposed to discuss the accusations made by Leslie as well as the causes for his removal on Feb. 5, but instead voted for a third party to investigate.
“I think the outside investigation is fine. Hopefully then we can put this to rest,” said Lewis, who does not believe there was any conflict of interest.
Ohio Department of Development, a funder of HPRP, will examine the alleged conflict of interest, Tecpanecatl said.
The Homeless Prevention Rapid Re-housing Program is a one-time stimulus-funded program that helps individuals in need pay rent, utilities and other living costs for up to 18 months. The TLCHB, city and United Way decided to pull together funding received for HPRP and develop a cross-agency delivery for the $4.2 million in funds, Conklin said. The program was set up to have four components; a centralized intake, lead case management supervision, rapid re-housing case management and delivery of funds.
Lewis, whom Leslie made allegations against, served on a nine-member HPRP citizens review committee that examined the request for qualifications to administer components of the program in July, Conklin said. The committee examines what they need from an organization, tallying points for qualifications met, she said.
The committee made no recommendations of funding for the positions, Lewis said.
FOCUS was one of two agencies to apply for lead case management and would won the position based on qualification regardless to Lewis being on the citizens review, Conklin said.
“When Lewis was on the committee there was no issue. The recommendation went to the city and Ohio,” Tecpanecatl said.
After FOCUS’s first two qualified candidates fell through due to salary concerns, Lewis was asked to look at the position in October.
FOCUS was allocated 1.35 percent of the $4.2 million in HPRP funds for the lead case management position, said Kyle Grefe, executive director of FOCUS. That money does not go to the agency itself but to Lewis as a salary, she said.
FOCUS provides Lewis with the human resources component — salary, benefits and vacation. Otherwise, she reports to the HPRP project manager and city, Conklin said. In HPRP, the Department of Neighborhoods pays the landlords and other venders money, she said.
TLCHB oversees the continuum of care for homeless in Lucas County. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grants a set amount of funds, $3.3 million in 2009, to the area through the continuum of care grant.
According to its charter, there are 25 members on the Toledo Lucas County Homelessness Board. Currently, there are 14 voting members due to pending nominations and terms that have just ended, Tecpanecatl said. To remove a board member 75 percent of members must vote in favor, which means 11 of the 14 members would have to vote to remove Leslie.
Tags: Ken Leslie, Kyle Grefe
