HUD officials are in El Paso reviewing the operations of the HACEP offices. The visit follows recent stories in NPT regarding a contract given to Aliviane, and the vote last week to offer the executive director contract to Gerry Cichon.

During that meeting, Commissioner Jaime Rubenstein said that he wanted HUD to review HACEP, something that an angry Commissioner Larry Medina, on the opposite side of the vote from Rubenstein, vowed to make happen. [nov. 28 npt story] He said in an interview after making the statement that it was not related to an NPT story in which Rubenstein's role in promoting the Aliviane contract was explored. [npt story]

Rubenstein was not available for comment on HUD's visit to El Paso. The official making the visit on behalf of Housing and Urban Development is Justin Ormsby, director of the Fort Worth office, which oversees El Paso. Ormsby is a former director of the Rio Grande Council of Government, based in El Paso.

Board chairwoman Kenna Ramirez said Ormsby called her last week.

"I understand there are two points he is going to look into, and I understand he will make recommendations after he meets with everybody," Ramirez said.

She said he was going to look at the Aliviane contract and the process used to hire Cichon.

Ormsby could not be reached for comment late Wednesday.

Previously, HUD spokeswoman Patricia Campbell released a statement regarding the Aliviane contract: “There are specific Federal and State standards for procurement, and HUD expects housing authorities to follow them. Housing Authorities are routinely counseled to be meticulous in their procurement activities, as this is an area that can be the source of serious problems. It would be surprising to HUD for a board member to be directly involved in the development of bid specifications in a housing authority the size of El Paso’s.”

Several days later, she released a statement regarding the requests by HACEP commissioners for HUD to get involved.

"At the request of Chair Kenna Ramirez, and with the support of HACEP Commissioner Jamie Rubenstein, the Office of Public Housing will conduct an assessment of HACEP soon. They will meet with Commissioners, staff, residents and others, and will be looking at operations, procurement, governance and other issues," read the statement.

Meanwhile, the meeting to ratify a contract to Cichon has been scheduled to Dec. 12 at 8 a.m. The contract offer calls for a $165,000 salary, along with various benefits. [npt story]