The US Housing and Urban Development Inspector General

On December 19, 2006, BBC Research & Consulting (BBC) of Denver, CO, briefed its December 1, 2006, report titled "Preserving Our Sense of Place: A Housing Needs Assessment of Coeur d'Alene" to the Coeur d'Alene City Council. In its goals (specifically at Section V, page 8) BBC encourages Coeur d'Alene to seek a US Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant for more regular funding of housing and community development needs.

Suppose the City and the Lake City Development Corporation does receive HUD money. Who would audit the books to ensure the money was being used as requried by law? Who would investigate allegations of fraud, criminal misuse or diversion of that money?

Initially the audit and investigation would be done by the HUD Inspector General's (IG) Office. The current HUD IG is Ken Donohue. To get a better idea of what the HUD IG's office does, see its Semiannual Report to Congress - October 1, 2005, Through March 31, 2006. A sampling of how the HUD IG deals with public corruption in community planning and development programs begins on page 76.

The mission of the HUD IG is to:

• Promote the integrity, efficiency, and effectiveness of HUD programs and operations to assist the Department in meeting its mission,
• Detect and prevent waste, fraud, and abuse, and
• Seek administrative sanctions, civil recoveries, and/or criminal prosecution for those responsible for waste, fraud, and abuse in HUD programs and operations.

Should HUD IG develop evidence requiring civil action or criminal prosecution, the evidence would be presented to the US Attorney, not the county prosecutor. Any federal court action would be in federal court, not state District court.