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Getbig Main Boards => Politics and Political Issues Board => Topic started by: Soul Crusher on August 13, 2010, 07:50:52 AM
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Philadelphia Housing Authority chief Carl Greene facing foreclosure (got $127M stimulus)
Philadelphia Inquirer ^ | Fri, Aug. 13, 2010 | Jennifer Lin , Inquirer Staff Writer
Posted on Friday, August 13, 2010 10:36:34 AM by Liz
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The mortgage foreclosure crisis has claimed an unlikely victim: Carl R. Greene, executive director of the Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA). Wells Fargo Bank has foreclosed on Greene's $615,035 condominium in the upscale Naval Square development in the city's Schuylkill section. In a lawsuit filed July 27, Wells Fargo said the amount in dispute was $386,685.22.
Greene, 53, runs the nation's fourth-largest public housing agency and is one of the highest-paid public officials in the city. His salary is $306,370, and last year he got a $44,188 bonus. Kirk Dorn, a spokesman for Greene, confirmed Thursday that the housing chief was "involved in a dispute with his mortgage company." "It's unfortunate that the dispute is now public, but he plans to deal with the matter in private," Dorn said. Dorn added that Greene "knows people will find it hard to understand how he could be involved in a possible foreclosure proceeding on his home, but he would prefer not to say more about it at this time."
Greene bought his three-bedroom, 2,100-square-foot condo in 2007. Wells Fargo is not seeking to evict him. Like any other Philadelphia homeowner threatened with losing a house, Greene will have to participate in the city's mortgage-foreclosure program. He is scheduled to appear Sept. 16 in the courtroom of Judge Annette Rizzo. PHA, a state authority, is funded mostly by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and is responsible for providing housing for Philadelphia's poor. It maintains rowhouses and apartments for low-income residents and develops affordable housing for purchase. Greene took over PHA in 1998, after serving as executive director of the Detroit Housing Commission. He also worked for housing authorities in Atlanta and Washington. Under Greene, PHA has aggressively eliminated outdated public-housing projects that concentrated families in fortresslike structures. Instead, the agency has developed low-rise communities with a mix of rental units and affordable homes for purchase. The developments often helped transform neighborhoods, such as the Hawthorne section of South Philadelphia.
Greene has drawn praise for his results in building housing and reviving neighborhoods and criticism for his sometimes combative, forceful style. During the administration of President George W. Bush, Greene sued HUD and accused the agency of punishing PHA for not giving land to the politically connected Philadelphia music producer and developer Kenny Gamble. The case was resolved out of court.
With the Obama administration, Greene has drawn attention and accolades from HUD for quickly putting to use economic-recovery money. In the last two years, PHA has received an additional $127 million in stimulus money that Greene has used to build or renovate 1,200 housing units.
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Can this Bozo prove where he spent $127M stimulus? Not to mention the millions PHA got from HUD. Maybe his nose knows (/snix)?
Greene's $306,370 salary (last year he got a $44,188 bonus) comes from taxpayer who are supposed to believe high salaries pare meant to attract and keep "major talent." These "major talents in govt jobs" are getting paid by taxpayers who constantly struggle. There are too many people making a fat living in government. How many people on Greene's staff are getting big bucks?
Carl R. Greene's salary as executive director of the Philadelphia Housing Authority is $306,370 a year (last year he got a $44,188 bonus).
Based on his income and probable mortgage payment he has a +/- 14% front end debt-to-income ratio. Most people have a 30-40% DTI. And this loser gets foreclosed on? This guys runs PHA and can't even manage to run his own finances properly? Talk about having unqualified people in positions of power.
How did that "stimulus" money help out the economy? Spending $165,000 tax dollars per unit to build and then selling said units for between $30,000 and $60,000 isn't a stroke of genius. It borders on the absurd. $127 million basically went into the toilet.
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Palin's fault.
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Our government resembles a bananna republic more and more every day.
And you fools wonder why the stim bill was such a historic flop? ::) ::)
Do the damn math.
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I just heard this reported on the radio and a called brought up the fact that this idiot is who is entrusted with 127 Million dollars.
And people wonder why we are headed to collapse?
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Taxpayers eat the cost of PHA (Phila Housing Authority's) Fine Dining
Philly.com ^ | 3/11/11 | B. LAKER & W. RUDERMAN
LOBSTER tail for $25.95. Filet mignon for $39.
A combo plate of prime rib and cedar-plank salmon for $53.
That's how the Philadelphia Housing Authority's top executives used to roll under the reign of Carl Greene.
At their annual retreat in a resort near the Poconos, PHA managers gorged themselves on so much rich food - creole crab cake, chocolate fondue, cheesecake - that some attendees had to make a pharmacy run for maximum-strength antacids and Aleve.
All charged to taxpayers.
The bills for the "strategic operations planning" conferences ran as high as $50,706.34 for a five-night corporate getaway at the Woodlands Inn & Resort in Wilkes-Barre, according to documents obtained by the Daily News.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is also in the midst of an in-depth audit that will examine how PHA, under Greene, spent tax dollars.
PHA, the nation's fourth-largest public-housing agency with roughly 80,000 tenants, receives most of its budget - $371 million - from HUD. Last week, HUD took control of PHA after ousting its board of commissioners.
PHA's board fired Greene in September, after it learned that he had secretly settled three sexual-harassment complaints against him for $648,000.
For the October 2009 retreat, Greene wanted managers to go in style. He used PHA money to buy 20 Tumi luxury duffel bags - $796 apiece - from Nordstrom as gifts to managers to pack their clothes and toiletries.
Some stayed for as many as five nights. The total bill for lodging: $20,421.11.
The price tag for food was $26,277.75, which didn't include extras like the nearly $1,500 sushi dinner at the Woodlands' premier Shogun Japanese Restaurant.
(Excerpt) Read more at philly.com ...