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The Detroit demolition program has come under a great deal of scrutiny by law enforcement.
Now, the city has gotten some good news.
The Detroit Inspector General has released a report saying there's no criminal wrongdoing involved in the program, reports WDIV's Kevin Dietz and Derick Hutchinson.
But WDIV notes that the FBI has a separate and ongoing investigation into the operation.
The 36-page inspector general report includes details of the controversial early days of demolition in Mayor Mike Duggan's administration, WDIV reports.
In 2015, there were accusations of bid-rigging and massive price increases by contractors working for the Detroit Land Bank.
At the time, Duggan took responsibility.
"I made them operate at that speed without the compliance program in place," Duggan said, according to WDIV. . "I can tell you the people running it today are highly qualified and doing a good job."
The mayor's office issued a statement in response to the report:
"The report is very thorough and professional and we fully support its conclusion. We were pleased to see the report confirmed there was no evidence of waste, fraud, abuse or corruption in the unit price procurement they reviewed."
The IG report talked about the city's meeting with large contractors for the demolition program that excluded smaller ones, and concluded:
Based on the OIG investigation, the large-unit contractor meeting did not violate any existing written DLBA, State or Federal Blight Elimination Program policies, or obligations to the City. However, the meeting lacked fairness, openness, and transparency because it excluded smaller contractors and by doing so, it portrayed the notion that select contractors were given preferential treatment. This exclusion left those not invited to attend to speculate as to what occurred and if some type of impermissible deal was negotiated. Therefore the OIG recommends that the DLBA and DBA allow all potential contractors to attend meetings involving discussions of potential contracts in the future.
