Photo: Last October, Mayor de Blasio (at lectern) lauded the work of a revamped Build it Back program during a visit to Broad Channel. City Comptroller Scott Stringer this week said his office’s audit revealed major issues still exist within BIB practices.
City Comptroller Scott Stringer this week blasted the city after an audit executed by his office revealed that the recovery effort following Superstorm Sandy turned into a boon for consultants who failed to do required work and left thousands of victims without help long after the storm ravaged the New York—and problems continue to this day.
The audit, according to Stringer’s office, examined the Build it Back Single Family Program—dedicated to owner-occupants of properties with one-to-four units affected by Sandy—from June 1, 2013 to August 1, 2014. Stringer also solicited testimony at six public hearings held in areas hardest hit by the storm, which were attended by hundreds of city residents and business owners. The audit included detailed reviews of a random sample of 70 applicants, plus reviews of program design, management and operations by the city Office of Housing Recovery Operations and its contractors.
According to Stringer, the audit showed that HRO failed to properly monitor contractors and paid $6.8 million to them for work that that was flawed or incomplete—contributing to extensive delays in the delivery of aid to more than 20,000 people seeking help.
Because contractors were paid up front for incomplete submissions, they had little incentive to accelerate or properly complete applications.
Stringer called the city’s response to Sandy “a case study in dysfunction… During the course of this audit, I went to affected communities to hear first-hand the stories of the recovery from hundreds of city residents—from the endless delays, to the lost paperwork and the maddening lack of progress. With this audit, we present a new level of detail about how the city allowed consultants to run amok and what must be done to ensure these mistakes are never again repeated.”
Additionally, the audit found that poor management led to double billing by consultants and payments for inadequately supported travel and other costs; contractors failed to meet specified standards in hiring front-line staffers; Sandy victims were shuffled from one staff person to the next, many of whom were not familiar with their cases; applicants were frequently forced to submit duplicative paperwork; Build it Back’s communication with applicants wasn’t timely, accurate or effective; frequent changes in procedural requirements confused and frustrated storm victims; and subcontractors who failed to deliver adequate services have continued to operate Build it Back for more than a year without valid contracts.
Stringer acknowledged that the de Blasio administration has made some strides, improved operations.
“There has been definite progress, for which the mayor should be commended,” the findings read. “By Aug. 14, 2014, 13 percent of the original 20,026 applicants were engaged in selecting awards for work to be done on their homes. According to the administration, as of March 24, 2015, more than 6,200 had selected the relief they would be receiving under Build it Back. At the same time, 2,913 single-family homeowners had received reimbursement checks, construction has started at 965 homes and has been completed at 506 homes.”
Stringer’s office posted several recommendations for the administration going forward, including dedicating sufficient staff to contract management and invoice approvals, and exploring ways to maximize the use of city resources rather than outside consultants for potential city-wide disasters.
In a written response to the audit, HRO endorsed Stringer’s recommendations, and said that “the city is generally in agreement with the [comptroller’s] findings related to delays, applicant frustration, and the start-up of the Program.”
HRO maintains that it fully implemented six of the comptroller’s recommendations in 2014, and that it is in the process of implementing the remaining seven and that it had previously dealt with the matters that were the subject of the audit in its 2014 report, “One City, Rebuilding Together.”
By Michael V. Cusenza michael@theforumnewsgroup.com