Lessons remain unlearned
Will the lesson of John Marra never sink in at the Fayette County Housing Authority? When placed in a position of trust in spending public money one cannot subscribe to the friends and family plan. And the board must be forever diligent to keep this from occurring. Executive Director Thomas L. Harkless stands accused by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, of favoring relatives with authority contracts.
The total amount of funds – $21,885.71 to his niece’s computer consulting service Niche Networks Inc. of Herndon, Va., and $80,416.68 to his brother-in-law’s telephone system employer Chestnut Ridge Communications Services Inc. of Blairsville – do not add up to great sums of money. But the pattern established by apparently circumventing the competitive bidding process by giving relatives an edge and through piecemealing projects is troubling.
Harkless should have known better and the board should have been watching. There are federal laws and authority procedures in place to prevent practices that appear at the very least unethical.
The authority’s procurement policy prohibits the authority from doing business with relatives; yet that is what Harkless is accused of doing in steering business to his wife’s niece and brother-in-law. Harkless maintains since he “did not benefit, directly or indirectly. I did not profit from this” that he did not violate policies. This is a weak argument. Taking care of one’s families and friends by giving them an unfair advantage in the competitive bidding process is just as damaging.
Housing authority board member Angela Zimmerlink was right to call this to HUD and the public’s attention. The other board members should be rallying around Zimmerlink, demanding answers and holding Harkless more accountable than merely cautioning him not to do this again.
How soon they all have forgotten the troubles that Marra visited upon the housing authority or that Marra is living out his retirement years in a federal penitentiary.