[FoCHAT] CHATNews: Two Whistleblowers- RH and US ACOE

Wed Sep 9 08:17:31 CDT 2009

Sept. 8, 2009
Dear CHAT Members,
Two Whistleblowers: RH and ACOE 
Compare the reports of a whistleblower from the Army Corp of Engineers (ACOE) about protecting New Orleans from more hurricane-related flooding and a whistleblower from ICF International, the former contractor for the Road Home Program (RHP) about this program for Louisiana victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.  

ACOE was responsible for much of the flooding in New Orleans after (not during) Hurricane Katrina due to faulty levees collapsing.
ICF had a contract of almost $1 billion for the RHP which was especially geared for hurricane-related flood damage to homes and small rental houses. It had an abysmal record of administering the program, as cited in the numerous news reports, proposed bills in the Louisiana legislature, and in CHAT surveys and even (not-yet-published) RHP surveys.  
You can leave comments about this issue of CHATNews at our blog.
http://www.chatushome.com/blog/?p=64

ACOE Engineer Whistleblower 
There have recently been newpaper articles in USA Today and the Times-Picayune about a whistleblower engineer, Maria Garzino, working for the US Army Corp of Engineers (ACOE) who in 2007 told her coworkers that unsafe pumps were installed at the levees putting New Orleans in jeopardy of flooding and wasting taxpayer money. 
The ACOE Inspector General investigated twice and concluded that the pumps in question provided sufficient safety although there were procedural shortcomings. In other words, the report was only the equivalent of a tap on the wrist.
However, the Office of the Special Counsel has recently independently investigated Ms. Garzino’s allegations. They found that “previous reports were "hollow and incomplete" because they merely regurgitated information originally provided by the corps without independent verification.”  They found that there was "little logical justification" for the corps' decision to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on the "untested" hydraulic pumps, which are meant to empty millions of gallons of water from the below-sea-level city during storm-related floods.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-08-25-pumps-new-orleans_N.htm  Aug. 25, 2009
http://nola.live.advance.net/news/t-p/eastjefferson/index.ssf?/base/news-7/1252387237119860.xml&coll=1   Sept. 8, 2009

Letter in May to me from the fired ICF Compliance Officer Whistleblower
Dear Melanie:
In regards to your article referencing “…serious problems with the Road Home Program,” I too am requesting that an investigation be conducted by HUD/OIG concerning ICF International and the Road Home Program.  
Ironically, your finding was the title of my subject in numerous emails that went out in April of 2007 while I was Compliance agent for the New Orleans office of The Road Home Program’s Small Rental Property Repair Program.  During one visit to the corporate office in Baton Rouge, I along with others, witnessed thousands of applications and requested documents recklessly thrown over the floor. This explained why applicants were being asked to provide duplicative documents four, five and often six times before being assisted.  The longer corporate office stalled the applications, the longer they could extend their jobs, salaries, and admin funds.  By the end of September of 2007, not one landlord received any assistance from the program, although we opened our doors earlier that same year.  
I personally provided thousands of pages of suspicious documents to federal authorities from June of 2007 through September of 2007.   After turning over a 601 page plus document to the D.A., legislative auditor, and eventually the FBI alleging theft, payroll fraud, and other violations, I, former Compliance Specialist for the Road Home program’s Small Rental Property Program, was savagely terminated six months later without cause. http://www.WAFB.com/Global/story.asp?s=7370774. 
I did exactly what I was supposed to do…advise and engage in strategic development, conceptualization, program policy and project development concerning the Louisiana Road Home Program; supervise and oversee all aspects of compliance systems in the Greater New Orleans area, as it related to assisting in setting up $869 million Small Rental Property Repair Program for over 200,000 landlords.  Upon my termination in September of 2007, not one landlord received any assistance from the program.  
ICF has repeatedly used diversionary tactics to deflect blame.  
Now, with new proactive administration in Washington, DC in place, hopefully someone will realize the seriousness of the aftermath that still face thousands of displaced citizens, as they were victims again in their quest for help.
As ICF is no new comer to lawsuits, there are numerous federal cases pending against them in court.  An Investigator with the U.S. Department of Labor cited them for “mislabeling” 225 lower employees as supervisors so that those employees would not receive over-time pay, a violation of the Fair Standards Labor Act.  (http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/30877434.html?index=1&c=y)
ICF’s 2008 own financial report indicates that their core business revenue was “…up 61.6 percent from the previous year of 2007 due to revenue it had received from obtaining the Road Home contract.”  http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS208284+11-Mar-2009+BW20090311  
The citizens’ spirit has been irrevocably damaged but our faith has not been defeated.
Warmest regards,
Zelia Elise Brown

Best wishes,
Melanie Ehrlich
Founder, Citizens’ Road Home Action Team (CHAT)
http://chatushome.com

PS  On Public Access TV (COX 10)The Latest Filming of a CHAT Meeting About Our Complaint to the HUD Office of the Inspector General About the Road Home Program 
  Wed., June 10, Noon-1:30 PM; Fri., June 12, Noon-1;30 PM; Sun., June 14, 10:00-11:30; Mon., June 15, 8:00-10:00; Thurs., June 18, 8:00-10:30; Sat., June 20, 11:00-1:00;  Mon., June 22, 12 - 2 PM; Fri., June 26, 8-10 AM; Wed., July 1, 3 PM; Thurs. July2, 2:30 PM; Fri., July 3, 3 PM; Sun., July 5, 9 AM; Mon., July 6, noon; Tues., July 7, 1:30 PM; Wed., July 8, noon; Mon., July 13, 4 PM; Wed., July 15, 3 PM; Thurs., July 16, 3:30 PM; Mon., July 20, 3 PM; Mon., July 27, 3:30 PM;  Wed., Aug. 5, 3 PM; Fri., Aug.7, 8 AM and 2:30 PM; Mon., Aug. 10, 3 PM; Wed., Aug. 12, 3 PM; Fri., Aug. 14, 12:30 PM;  Tues., Aug. 19, 4:30 PM; Fri., Aug. 22, 2 PM; Sat., Aug. 23, 10:30 AM; Wed.,  Aug. 26, 2 PM; Fri., Aug. 28, 2 PM; Sun., Wed., Sept. 9, 2 PM; Fri., Sept. 11, 2 PM; Tues., Sept. 15, noon.
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