LAHSA UNDER ATTACK BY CITY HOMELESS AGENCY ACCUSED OF MISMANAGEMENT.

Byline: Dan Laidman Staff Writer

City leaders accused the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority on Wednesday of mismanaging its budget, claiming hundreds of thousands of dollars have not been spent on key programs to help the poor.

Mercedes Marquez, head of the city Housing Department, wrote a memo to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa saying that inadequate financial tracking has ``hampered'' Los Angeles' ability to fund the joint city-county authority.

The Housing Department has been working with LAHSA on its budget since last summer when auditors issued a scathing review of the agency's finances. Marquez called for a follow-up audit focusing on LAHSA's management and programming.

``This indicates financial mismanagement,'' said Joe Ramallo, spokesman for Villaraigosa. ``(The mayor) is very concerned that LAHSA has not been accurately reporting their financial data to the city as it turns out they have money that has not been spent in prior years that can be used to continue these services.''

Owen Newcomer, who chairs the LAHSA commission, blamed the problems on ``poor bookkeeping'' practices that have since been resolved.

``It's done, it's old history, it is not an ongoing problem, it is not a current problem and thus we would argue there is nothing more to audit,'' he said.

``Frankly our biggest obstacle in the past was a financial officer who in one case wasn't up to the task, then we didn't have a financial officer, and we fully expect to have (one) by February.''

Newcomer took issue with the tone of the city memo and pointed to an attachment that credits LAHSA with improving some fiscal controls in the last few months.

The dust-up comes amid criticism of Villaraigosa for a budget proposal that would cut $2 million from LAHSA. The cuts reflect steep decreases in federal funding as well as the mayor's contention that LAHSA could spend its money more wisely.

Councilwoman Jan Perry introduced a motion this week to restore the funding, saying the cuts would eliminate about 130 shelter beds and hurt numerous service providers.

``I think it's fair to debate and review and audit and analyze all the issues that should be on the table but not at the expense of putting somebody out on the street,'' Perry said by phone from New York where she is gathering information on that city's approach to homelessness.

Among the problems cited in the Housing Department memo is a plan for a shelter in the San Fernando Valley, where there is a ``big hole'' in LAHSA's countywide strategy to get the chronically homeless off the streets, said Robin Conerly, deputy director of LAHSA.

The authority determined it would cost $600,000 to begin developing a Valley shelter but so far has only been allocated $200,000, making it impossible to move ahead, Conerly said. City officials say the agency could have started work with the $200,000.

Nonprofit groups that receive funding from LAHSA have said they are unsure how the back-and-forth might affect their work but that they are concerned about cuts.

Tanya Tull, whose Beyond Shelter organization runs programs in Pacoima, said LAHSA had been late paying her group in the past but it has gotten much better.

``This is all a trickle-down from the federal government,'' Tull said. ``Don't focus on one particular agency or one particular city, that's not where it's happening.''

David Grunwald of North Hollywood-based L.A. Family Housing said the problems may be structural.

``Because of the design of LAHSA, it being a county and city funded organization, it's a struggle for LAHSA to consistently receive revenues from both of those municipal funding sources,'' he said. ``It's not even about blaming anybody; you have a design that inherently isn't efficient.''

Dan Laidman, [phone]

dan.laidman(at)dailynews.com