LA’s Top Homeless Official Signed $2 Million Contract with Her Husband’s Employer

This seems a bit shady, to say the least. The top official for LA’s homeless services is a woman named Va Lecia Adams Kellum. She runs the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) which has an annual budget of $700 million.

Adams Kellum’s agency got some bad press last November when an audit found it was not keeping track of its money very well.

LAHSA, a city-county joint powers agency, failed to establish formal agreements on how and when advances should be repaid, did not always maintain records for capital advances and could not provide an accurate list of all contracts and their execution dates, county Auditor-Controller Oscar Valdez wrote in the 57-page audit released Tuesday night…

In a sample of contracts, the auditors found that LAHSA understated the amounts awarded to two recipients by $505,591 and lacked supporting documentation for approximately $5 million advanced to five recipients.

At the time this audit was released, Adams Kellum claimed the problems it identified were mostly down to previous management.

“Much of these audits are covering time periods before I joined LAHSA, so it’s important that I get that baseline, that I see what those key areas of pain points are, and if we’re on the right track for system improvement that we’ve already put in place, and to further let us know what’s missing,” she said.

Again, that was just 3 months ago. This week LAist identified a problem at LAHSA that Adams Kellum won’t be able to blame on someone else. It seems she personally signed off on a $2 million contract with her husband’s employer.

The documents show that Va Lecia Adams Kellum, chief executive of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), signed a $2.1 million contract and two other contract amendments with Upward Bound House, the Santa Monica-based nonprofit where her husband Edward Kellum works in senior leadership. The contract names Adams Kellum as the LAHSA official authorized to administer it.

A LAHSA spokesperson told LAist the contracts had inadvertently ended up in front of Adams Kellum to sign…

The $2.1 million contract signed by Adams Kellum authorized federal taxpayer funds for Upward Bound House to pay rent for unhoused people in the region and help them find homes. The money also covered case management and administration costs at the nonprofit.

The records show Adams Kellum signed the three documents directly above the names of her husband’s employer and his boss.

So they’re claiming these contracts “inadvertently” wound up on her desk? Even if that’s true, how did she not notice they were a) contracts for her husband’s employer and b) included the name of his boss? This seems like a real stretch.

In any case, this is a clear violation of state conflict of interest rules. The code of ethics statement posted on LAHSA’s own website offers this description of things employees must not do.

I  shall  refrain  from  entering  into  any  activity  which  may  be,  or  appear  to  be,  in  conflict  with  the  interest of LAHSA or which would prejudice or appear to prejudice my ability to objectively carry my duties and responsibilities. Examples may include: 

Serving   in   either   a   paid   or   volunteer   capacity   as   a   director,   partner,   employee   or   representative in any organization that does business with, or receives funds from LAHSA

Being immediately related to any vendor, contractor or consultant paid by LAHSA funds.

LA officials are not happy about this clear flouting of the rules.

L.A. City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez, a frequent critic of LAHSA’s oversight practices, called Adams Kellum’s signing of contracts with Upward Bound House “really problematic” and “absolutely unacceptable.”

Adams Kellum was hired at a base salary of $430,000 a year — nearly double the pay of elected City Council members and about 42% more than the mayor of L.A.

With such a high salary and responsibility over taxpayer dollars, Rodriguez said, LAHSA’s CEO should be adhering to high ethical standards.

We’ll have to wait and see what happens but you probably know the drill in California. Democrats cover for their own.