WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Sean Duffy (R-WI), Chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing & Insurance, today wrote a letter to the Acting Inspector General of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Helen M. Albert, and HUD Secretary Dr. Ben Carson to “immediately investigate what appears to be gross mismanagement of federal grant dollars that were supposed to fulfill a meaningful public health purpose.” Last fall, more than 100 LCO members petitioned Congressman Duffy about the mold issue in homes throughout their community.

Read the letter below:

Acting Inspector General Albert:

On September 26, 2016, a petition was delivered to my office in which one hundred and thirteen members of the Lac Courte Oreille Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (LCO) requested a forensic audit of all LCO tribal accounts and programs due to potential mismanagement of federal funds by the Tribal Governing Board (TGB) of the tribe.

A primary concern for the petitioners is whether a 2015 Indian Community Development Block Grant (ICDBG) awarded to the tribe by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for $800,000 was used properly. This money was supposed to go toward the mold remediation of 53 units in the Lac Courte Oreilles Housing Authority inventory. However, to date, only a handful homes have been remediated and estimated costs are the project have soared.

To shed light on this situation, I wrote to then-Secretary Julián Castro requesting that HUD initiate a forensic audit of all tribal accounts and programs of the LCO, just as the petitioners had requested. HUD responded on October 26, 2016 and in that response, stated that: “as the recipient of ICDBG funds, the LCOB is required to submit audits in accordance with 2 C.F.R. 200 Subpart F; however, the audit for FY 2015 is overdue.” As of the receipt of that letter, the audit still had not been submitted by LCO.

As LCO had not submitted the required audit to HUD, I wrote directly to Chairman Mic Isham of LCO for the requisite documents. Unfortunately, Chairman Isham did not comply with my document request. And at this time, LCO has not provided me with a single document showing that the ICDBG were expended properly.

However, in statements to the media the Chairman remarked that the information I, and members of the media, had requested could be found on the Federal Audit Clearinghouse (FAC). Despite the Chairman’s comments, the LCO has not submitted information to FAC since 2014 making it unusable for my investigative purposes. It is not clear if LCO has submitted a required audit, or if the TGB intend to do so.

I take the concerns of any of my constituents very seriously. If there has been mismanagement of funds by the TGB, it is a fraud against the most vulnerable in my community. I have personally toured some of the properties that were supposed to be remediated and was shocked that the TGB has not taken this situation more seriously. Respiratory illnesses are the fourth highest cause of death for tribal members and any misuse of these funds is dangerous neglect.

In a November 2, 2016 Annual Status and Evaluation Report to HUD, LCO estimates that only 20 homes will be remediated and community members estimate that the final tally of remediated homes will be even lower than that. I respectfully request that the HUD Office of Inspector General immediately investigate what appears to be gross mismanagement of federal grant dollars that were supposed to fulfill a meaningful public health purpose. Should an investigation discover that wrongdoing has occurred, I encourage you to take any and all necessary action to represent the best interests of the tribal community.

I thank you for your prompt assistance in this matter.

Respectfully,

Rep. Sean P. Duffy

Member of Congress

cc:           The Honorable Ben Carson, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development

Background:

To view WDIO (ABC Duluth) special report titled, “Mold In LCO Housing Raises Concerns And Request For Financial Information,” click HERE.  

To view a PDF of the above letter to the Inspector General and Secretary Carson, click HERE.

                                               

 

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