Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker is inviting the federal government to help overhaul the county’s housing department which he said failed under the administration of his predecessor, Jack Johnson, who has been convicted of fraud.
Baker signed an agreement with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Monday that will put the federal agency’s resources at the county’s own housing department’s disposal.
The county’s Department of Housing and Community Development was often at the center of former County Executive Jack Johnson’s pay-to-play schemes, to which he pleaded guilty last year.
The housing department struggled with poor leadership, a lack of oversight of how federal dollars were spent, and allegations of cronyism by employees under Johnson, according to a Virginia Tech report commissioned by the county council.
Improvements to the department under Baker’s administration have been modest, and officials are still trying to resolve compliance issues with about $6.5 million annually the department receives from HUD, the report found.
Baker said he hopes to change all that by using HUD resources to help the department comply with federal spending regulations and develop new strategies for improving Prince George’s County.
“This agreement allows them to get beyond simple compliance,” said Mercedes Marquez, assistant secretary of HUD. “It allows them to actually take a look at the dollars they receive and leverage them better, and actually ensure that they bring the best possible planning and collaboration to the use of the dollars.”
HUD will provide training for housing department employees while county officials work with HUD to overhaul Prince George’s housing programs and plans.
The county may see a few extra HUD dollars as a result of the collaboration, according to Marquez, but no monetary amount is stipulated in the agreement.
The secretary said she is familiar with the department’s troubled past, and that those days are behind the county.
“They still have work to do. They’re working through the agreements,” Marquez said. “But I think that at some point, it is fair to make a demarcation between one administration and a brand new day.”
