City, County Inaction Led To Failure Of Homeless Vets Housing: Audit

PORTLAND, OR — The Joint Office of Homeless Services allowed a building housing homeless veterans to deteriorate to the point that inspectors had to condemn the building more than a year ago, according to a report released Tuesday by the Portland city auditor.

The report, "Fraud Hotline Report: Funds Wasted At Veteran Apartment Complex," by City Auditor Mary Hull Caballero, concluded that the Joint Office, run by the city of Portland and Multnomah County, wasted $858,000 over 16 months to manage Sandy Studios, a 32-unit apartment complex at Northeast Sandy Boulevard and Northeast 38th Avenue.

Portland building inspectors determined in March 2021 that the building was uninhabitable and ordered the building condemned. It has been unoccupied since.

The program was supposed "to provide shelter to needy veterans but allowed the property to deteriorate into unsafe, unsanitary housing that ultimately left the Joint Office scrambling to find shelter for the residents," the report said.

Shannon Singleton, the interim director of the Joint Office, said that she appreciated much of what the auditor found, but added: "We disagree with some of the statements regarding the work conducted by our office."

"It is worth highlighting that we had already initiated some of" the remedies suggested by the auditor's office before the report was issued, Singleton said in response to the report.

Caballero conceded that the pandemic created problems getting things done, but added that conditions should not have been allowed to deteriorate as they did.

If the Joint Office doesn't correct procedures, it risks wasting more money intended for helping people without housing, the report said.

“Providing housing during the pandemic was especially challenging,” Caballero said. “But that is no excuse for not having robust procedures to ensure that programs created to protect the wellbeing of vulnerable people are doing so effectively."

A few of the reports findings follow.

• An inspector in January 2021 found a collapsed ceiling and damaged roof that allowed water to enter the building, resulting in "dangerous levels of mold in nearly all the apartments caused by moisture and damage."
• The Joint Office did not conduct oversight and allowed a contractor, Do Good Multnomah, to hire "an ineffective subcontractor," Home First Decelopment.
• The contractor compiled a list of "necessary repairs" for the landlord, but "it was based on their own observations rather than a certified inspection."
• There is no record that the "necessary repairs"were ever completed, including fixing malfunctioning electric wiring and tripping breakers, a hole in the basement floor, missing exhaust screens, a nonworking toilet in a common area, noncompliant wheelchair ramps and uninhabitable units.
• Joint Office staff didn't walk the property to identify maintenance problems.
• Joint Office staff did not hold the contractor accountable.