Since day one, the West Virginia Housing Fund has publicly been a huge champion of a low-income housing project being built by Charleston developer Doug Pauley on land owned by West Virginia Treasurer John Perdue near Point Pleasant. In 2009, Mason County commissioners rejected a request from Pauley and Perdue to write a letter of support — which Pauley needed to secure federal funding for the project under WVHDF rules. In response, WVHDF administrators suggested a way to circumvent the rules. They told Pauley he could file a discrimination complaint against Mason County commissioners. If the feds found that Mason commissioners had discriminated against low-income elderly and handicapped people, Pauley wouldn’t need the letter of local support. Federal housing officials investigated but didn’t issue any findings one way or the other. So the WVHDF went to Plan B. They eliminated the local support letter report requirement. In December 2010, they awarded Pauley a $3.67 million stimulus grant. Construction is now underway — despite the fact that the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office are investigating Pauley’s deal with Perdue.
Since the WVHDF has been so quick to praise the project — and help Pauley secure funding — I requested a copy of the agency’s 2007 analysis of Perdue’s property. I figured the WVHDF would readily want to disclose the two-page document because it would likely support their contention that the project was needed in Mason County. Turns out, I did get a copy…of the first sentence. The agency redacted, or blacked out, everything else. On Friday, I left a message for Lonnie Stringer, who wrote the report, but haven’t heard back. Which has me wondering: Why does the WVHDF want to keep this document secret?
Here’s the latest on the story.
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WVHDF is less about helping low income tenants with affordable housing but more about using this office for financial gain whether personal or political. This agency needs a search warrant executed on its offices as much as any individual now being investigated.
Its also shameful that the Feds will not prosecute individuals within the property management company involved. They continue to profit even after fraud was found through an FBI investigation. They continue to be untouchable and Im sure they are thumbing their noses at the politians whom they are helping to investigate, and the people who want justice for all involved including the property management company.
Small government is also protected by big government. The same thing happened during the investigation of Manchin. The party in play protects it’s own.
please explain how the housing works?
so he got the money to build it, who and how much is paid for the people living in it? where does that money go?
The memo says the site is unacceptable for the proposed housing project. How hard is that to figure out?
That doesn’t make sense. Why would the WVHDF allow Pauley to build a complex on a property that it found “unacceptable,” and then let John Perdue profit from the sale?