A letter says Jim Wright was fired.
A letter says Jim Wright was fired.
A letter from a 2016 state audit shows just what a mess the Detroit Building Authority has been.
Christine Ferretti of The Detroit News reports:
A former high-ranking member of the Detroit Building Authority was terminated and a land bank staffer who oversaw Detroit's blight elimination was reassigned over problematic bid awards for the city's federally funded demolition program, according to a document released amid a 2016 state audit that found evidence of possible "bid rigging" and "collusion."
The previously redacted Sept. 30, 2016, letter, sent by the homeownership director of the Michigan Homeowner Assistance Nonprofit Housing Corp. to the U.S. Treasury, identifies former Detroit Building Authority deputy director Jim Wright as a "key staff person" terminated from the program over the issues, and a second Detroit Land Bank staffer, Marti Delgado, reassigned to another area "that does not have any roles and responsibilities with blight elimination or handling of any Hardest Hit blight funding."
The full letter — which also referenced an ongoing federal criminal investigation into the program — was made public Monday as part of a lawsuit filed last fall by activist Robert Davis over the release of audit and financial documents related to the state's investigation of the program.
