Florence Snyder
In 10 years as head of the Florida Housing Finance Corporation (FHFC), Stephen Auger didn’t do much to solve the chronic, critical problems of people who work hard, play by the rules, and still can’t afford a decent place to live.
But he won the hearts and minds of millionaire senators like Dennis Baxley and Dan Raulerson, who think that buying steak dinners for people who do business with FHFC is a good use of taxpayer money.
Auger is among the casualties of Gov. Rick Scott‘s pre-session purge of agency heads caught in the act of frivolous, selfish, useless and stupid expenditures of public funds.
If government was really “run like a business,” Auger would have been gone years ago, when a Tampa Bay Times reporting team led by Susan Taylor Martin first began turning the rocks over at FHFC and finding an embarrassing pile of misfeasance and nonfeasance. But Auger held on to his $183,000 job until December, when the legislature’s own auditors weighed in on FHFC’s miasma of mismanagement. Highlights include $443,000 in criteria-free staff bonus payments and a $52,000 “lender appreciation” dinner which featured broiled lobster tails, filet mignon and a nice “display” of tasty “imported and domestic cheeses.”
State audit manager and Master of Understatement Christi Alexander formally presented audit findings last week to the Joint Legislative Auditing Committee, noting that such expenses “did not appear to be clearly necessary” to FHFC’s affordable housing mission. Raulerson tried to stick a fork in Auger’s critics by pointing out that the real cost of the Festival of Filet was “only” $36,000, thanks FHFC’s ability to attract corporate “sponsorships ” from folks who very, very much appreciate the money they make doing business with FHFC.
Raulerson has no problem with FHFC blowing more taxpayer money on one dinner than many of his constituents make in a year.
But he is upset that “[Auger] lost [his] job over this, and that’s not right. I don’t think (FHFC) did anything wrong … What they did was entirely within reason.”
Baxley dismissed the audit as so much “nitpicking” over “an opinion that they had too nice a dinner. “
“I feel like we overreact to things sometimes,” Baxley said. “I believe in hospitality; I believe in recognition ceremonies for my employees … An audit to me is, I want to know if they’re stealing money or wasting money. But if they’re doing a function they’re allowed to do, part of their authority is to decide how big a dinner to have.”
Raulerson and Baxley delivered a depressing and not terribly subtle warning. It may be a cold day in Florida before we see another “nitpicking” audit of public officials like Auger who party like Marie Antoinette.
2 comments
Kevin
February 20, 2017 at 10:48 pm
Ms. Snyder:
You are a liar.
Your criticism of Rep. Raulerson (“…FHFC blowing more taxpayer money on one dinner…”) strongly implies that Florida Housing spent taxpayer money on the lender appreciation dinner. That is not true. The audit itself states that Florida Housing does not use taxpayer money for its operations. Such an easily refutable assertion is the result of either negligent laziness, or a deliberate attempt to mislead your readers for sensational effect.
This is also a lie: “Stephen Auger didn’t do much to solve the chronic, critical problems of people who work hard, play by the rules, and still can’t afford a decent place to live.”
The year Mr. Auger became Executive Director, Florida Housing assisted just over 1,100 low-to-moderate income homebuyers with funding sources other than the State Housing Initiatives Program (SHIP). In 2015, Florida Housing helped more than 10,000 low-to-moderate income households either purchase a home or avoid foreclosure with non-SHIP funds.
Following the 2004-05 hurricane seasons, Mr. Auger oversaw the rapid deployment of $250 million to rebuild housing (both rental and homeownership) in affected areas. Mr. Auger also directed funds to local housing authorities to help expand the amount of rental assistance available to displaced families in affected areas.
During Mr. Auger’s time as Executive Director, Florida Housing financed the construction or preservation of nearly 92,000 units of affordable rental housing. Florida Housing financed several thousand more units of affordable rental housing while Mr. Auger was director of multifamily programs. To put that in perspective, there are approximately 85,000 units of housing in the city of Tallahassee.
Mr. Auger led the organization through the economic crisis and the collapse of the credit market.
Mr. Auger oversaw a complete overhaul of the process Florida Housing uses to allocate funds to developers which minimized litigation and sped up the process of getting new units built.
As Executive Director, Mr. Auger emphasized housing for persons with special needs. Under his leadership, Florida Housing began requiring that developers set-aside units for persons with disabilities, add accessibility features to buildings, and work with local supportive service agencies. Mr. Auger also oversaw the implementation of new funding for smaller developments operated by non-profit organizations who house persons with developmental disabilities. Under his leadership, Florida Housing created a pilot program, also limited to non-profit developers, which is identifying the best practices for housing chronically homeless individuals. Under Mr. Auger’s leadership, Florida Housing funded developments specifically targeted to disabled veterans.
Mr. Auger helped to ensure that at least some funding for rental development went to rural areas. He also helped establish a targeted pool of funding for redevelopment projects supported by local governments.
Among the rental properties in Florida assisted by Florida Housing’s richest subsidy, the 9% Low Income Housing Tax Credit, the highest reported average annual income is just over $38,000. The are many tax credit properties, consisting of tens of thousands of units, where the average income is less than $20,000. Many Florida Housing assisted properties are limited to low-income seniors. At properties without age restrictions, the typical household is a family with children.
In 2014 alone, Florida Housing’s investment activity created more than 27,000 full and part-time jobs. Florida Housing itself, under Mr. Auger’s leadership, employed approximately 120 people. That’s significantly fewer employees than many other state housing finance agencies. You will be hard pressed to find that level of efficiency elsewhere in the public sector. What is the positive economic impact of your slipshod reporting?
There are very few Floridians who have done as much as Mr. Auger to solve the chronic shortage of affordable housing in this state. You clearly have not researched Mr. Auger’s rapid rise from a mid-level position in the organization to Executive Director. It is Mr. Auger who had worked hard and played by the rules only to be maligned by lazy muckraking “journalists.”
It is easy to rattle off vitriol without 15 minutes of research necessary to identify the facts listed above. It is difficult to serve the public with integrity. You owe your readers an apology for your misstatements.
Deja
February 21, 2017 at 3:34 pm
Kevin,
I tell you, research is an amazing thing…it gives us the TRUTH!
You are so spot on regarding your comments and it is obvious that you RESEARCHED your information. It is just incomprehensible how irresponsible the press has become…if you can call a blog press at all.
Incorrect information, “alternative facts,” and just down right sensationalism and laziness is the order of the day.
Bravo to you for setting the record straight and backing EVERYTHING you said up with hard, honest and true FACTS. And please say it again…Florida Housing DOES NOT us taxpayer dollars for it operations, including the Lender Dinner!
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