Other Giuliani Agencies Under Cloud Too

The Rent Guidelines Board is not the only Giuliani agency under pressure. The Human Resources Administration has been repeatedly found in violation of federal and local laws requiring public assistance for eligible families. Last month, HRA Commissioner Jason Turner and First Deputy Commissioner Mark Hoover had fines levied against them for misusing their office for the private gain of their consulting firm, the Center for Self-Sufficiency.

Turner and Hoover have espoused the principle of "personal responsibility" regarding the families of New York City, but have not applied it to themselves. They have refused increasing demands for their resignation, including a public stand taken at the steps of City Hall Oct. 24 by over 100 activists from various organizations. The Giuliani administration won a rare victory when the state Court of Appeals reversed a State Supreme Court finding that Turner had unlawfully awarded contracts to a former deputy mayor, in what City Comptroller Alan Hevesi called a "corruption" of the bidding process.

As reported in the October issue of Tenant/Inquilino, the Department of Buildings saw five top administrators indicted for corruption, and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development continues to neglect enforcement of the housing maintenance code, ignoring 3,000,000 violations on record and sharply reducing the already inadequate number of inspectors and enforcement attorneys.

-- Kenny Scaeffer