Sexual Harassment Lawsuits Plague Philadelphia Housing Authority Chief Carl R. Greene

STROUDSBURG, Pa. - The Philadelphia Housing Authority Board seems to have forgotten their responsibility of overseeing millions of federal dollars for housing subsidies and development. In an recent news report (Cost to settle sex-harassment case against Philadelphia Housing Authority chief near $900,000) , the Philadelphia Inquirer detailed how the PHA received $280 million for development projects alone, apart from federal money spent to subsidize 81,000 people in 32,000 separate Philadelphia housing units. Unfortunately, the PHA Board seems to believe it is their job to look the other way when it comes to the behavior of city employees.

In an earlier report (Greene's 306K job in doubt), the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Carl R. Greene, in his capacity as Chief Executive of the Philadelphia Housing Authority, settled four sexual harassment claims at a cost to taxpayers of close to a million dollars. Philadelphia's insurers pay out the settlement monies but Philadelphia taxpayers pay the premiums.

Greene was recruited from Detroit in 1998 by Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, though Greene faced sexual harassment charges there, too. Rendell is reported to have conducted his own investigation Detroit sexual harassment allegations against Greene's and concluded that the accusations were not warranted.

According to his lawyer, Carl R. Greene is "undergoing medical diagnosis and treatment outside Pennsylvania." One would think that an ailing 53 year old housing official, with exacting duties and a $306,000 annual Housing Authority salary, would stay put to answer Philadelphia's questions. A person commenting on the Inquirer story said that Greene should indeed move to a new address but feel it should be an address which provides an orange jumpsuit.

With regard to the four harassment lawsuits, the Inquirer reports that one woman received a settlement of $200,000, another received $98,000, while a 3^rd got $350,000." It was the 4^th case, pending settlement for $250,000, which propelled Greene's activities into the public light. Greene still holds the CEO position, and through his attorney, vows that he will not resign.

A key player on the Philadelphia Housing Authority Board is former Mayor John Street, who has thus far opposed terminating the PHA chief executive. Street said that, should Greene resign, he would forfeit not only his $306,000 annual salary but also his right to sue the Housing Authority Board. That would be an ideal outcome where taxpayers are concerned, but why is Street not calling for Greene's resignation?

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter has directly challenged former Mayor Street's allegations that the PHA board didn't know anything about the sexual harassment lawsuits. Nutter says he found it "baffling" that an insurance company wouldn't have notified the PHA board of the insurance claim settlements, according to the Inquirer story.

Philadelphia's Housing Authority bureaucracy has to be cleaned up. While members of the Housing Authority are calling for their independent investigation of Greene's sexual harassment payouts, perhaps there should be also an investigation of the Housing Authority Board itself.

I used to live in Philadelphia and it is a better city than its current reputation would impute. It's a lively, unpretentious city, where people are inclined to know the score. When Philadelphia's local newspapers report that Greene political ally, Asia Coney, earns a $101,000 salary as a non-profit tenant advocate while living in federally subsidized public housing, Philadelphia residents know that somebody's "blowing smoke."

Now that the Philadelphia Inquirer has exposed this disgusting waste of public money, Mayor Nutter needs to continue applying the screws. If he doesn't, that old maxim will perhaps need to be revised: "Where there's smoke, there's fire-unless the smoke is in Philadelphia."

Sources:

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/home_top_stories/20100826_Cost_to_settle_sex-harassment_cases_against_Philadelphia_Housing_Authority_chief_near__900_000.html

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/20100825_Greene_s_306K_job_in_doubt.html?viewAll=y