The new policy establishes procedures the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority says are designed to safeguard it from legal, financial and reputational risks. <\/p>\n
It says LAHSA officials with real or perceived conflicts will no longer be named on contract signature lines. Contracts involving conflicts must be approved by the commission. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not a change in values, it is a refinement of process,\u201d Holly Henderson, LAHSA\u2019s director of risk management, said at a Friday meeting of the commission that governs the agency.<\/p>\n
At least one commission member said she was unaware that the agency, which oversees hundreds of millions in taxpayer-funded homeless services, had no previous, formal written policy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just wanted to ask what the changes were from the existing policy,\u201d said LAHSA commissioner Tamela Omoto-Frias. \u201cOr is all of this brand new?\u201d<\/p>\n
Henderson said the policy was new, but some of its provisions had already been in practice. <\/p>\n
LAist\u2019s findings<\/p>\n
The new policy requires LAHSA authorities who have a conflict of interest to be “fully recused from contracting processes, including planning, negotiations, approvals, or amendments.” <\/p>\n
It applies to all LAHSA staff, commissioners, consultants, contractors and service providers.<\/p>\n
LAHSA adopts conflict of interest policy after LAist exposes ethics gaps<\/p>\n
The policy follows LAist’s reporting in February that now-former LAHSA CEO Va Lecia Adams Kellum signed a $2.1-million contract with her husband’s employer, Upward Bound House.<\/p>\n
Adams Kellum told commissioners previously that she had walled herself off from anything involving the organization. She resigned several months later and was replaced by interim CEO Gita O\u2019Neill. <\/p>\n
In July, LAHSA released findings from an investigation by an outside law firm that cleared Adams Kellum of wrongdoing. The investigation concluded her signature was “unintentionally applied to the UBH contracts by her staff without her knowledge or direction.”<\/p>\n
But that finding contradicts electronic signature records obtained by LAist that show the documents were “viewed” and “e-signed by Va Lecia Adams Kellum” using her official LAHSA email account.<\/p>\n
Neither LAHSA nor the law firm responded to questions about this discrepancy. <\/p>\n
L.A. county counsel refused to disclose the law firm’s billing rate or hours for the law firm\u2019s investigation. LAHSA said the law firm\u2019s report is covered by attorney-client privilege.<\/p>\n
New revelations<\/p>\n
LAist’s review of contracting records reveal Adams Kellum’s conflicts potentially extended beyond the one involving her husband’s employer.<\/p>\n
In April 2023, soon after becoming LAHSA\u2019s CEO, her signature appeared on a quarter-million-dollar LAHSA contract<\/a> for street outreach services with the nonprofit St. Joseph Center \u2014 the organization she led for years until two months earlier<\/a>.<\/p>\n A screenshot from a LAHSA contract with St. Joseph Center <\/p>\n ()\n<\/p>\n Adams Kellum left St. Joseph Center in February 2023 to join L.A. Mayor Karen Bass\u2019 administration, according to the nonprofit<\/a>.<\/p>\n The contract was signed so soon after her leaving the nonprofit that the contract paperwork still listed her as one of its points of contact and authorized signers.<\/p>\n (<\/p>\n A screenshot from the 2023 contract <\/p>\n )<\/p>\n Electronic signature records show the contract documents were reviewed and signed through Adams Kellum\u2019s official email account on April 5.<\/p>\n ()\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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