"Nothing was ever done. It just got worse,"

Is what a former city employee told the FW Weekly. Her quote sums up so many current issues in the area.

Last week lots of people were "embarrassed" about the Fort Worth HUD financial fiasco.

Guess so...

"In fact, Walker's misdeeds were outlined two years ago in stories by Fort Worth Weekly that won a statewide investigative reporting award. The illicit practices, questionable funds use, and provision of shoddy housing and home repairs by city-paid contractors had been reported repeatedly by citizens during that period to Moncrief and other members of the council - most of whom are still serving.

City spokesperson Jason Lamers said that the city knew of "long-standing issues with the housing department" but "believed that things were being fixed." Yet in case after case, specific problems pointed out by the Weekly in 2007 were never fixed.

Two former city housing employees, who were instrumental in bringing the department's failings to the attention of city officials, the federal government, and the Weekly, aren't satisfied. Fired by Walker for, they say, pointing out the problems in his department, Theresa Thomas and Lisa Weaver still want their jobs back.
And they also want to know why no one would listen to them.

Neither Moncrief nor Chapa would speak with the Weekly to answer those questions.

And in what may prove to be an even bigger headache for Walker as well as the city, Chapa wrote that he had evidence that Walker's department had authorized rehabilitation work on homes without obtaining building permits "as required by the city's own regulations." Worse, the department was found to be authorizing payment for permits that contractors had never obtained. That could mean the city will have to repay HUD for all the money spent on the phantom permits and could also result in the city being investigated by the federal government for fraud. According to the city's legal department, violating the ordinance regarding construction permits is a misdemeanor that carries a $2,000 fine for each day the offense occurs.


"There is no excuse for the mayor or any city council member to act 'shocked' that Jerome had been fired" for mismanaging federal funds, Weaver said.

She and Thomas went to all of the council members plus Moncrief, then-city manager Charles Boswell, and then-assistant city manager Fisseler. They were ignored by everyone except council members Chuck Silcox, now deceased, and Donavan Wheatfall, who is no longer on the council.

The women also raised questions about the legality of a nonprofit construction company formed by Walker and his assistant Don Cager under the umbrella of the Fort Worth Housing Finance Corporation, through which all HUD money flows. That company, City Construction Company, built or remodeled numerous houses with HUD funds - in the place of private contractors who formerly did city work.

The board of directors of the FWHFC is the city council.

Councilwoman Kathleen Hicks and Fisseler are named in the City Construction Company's incorporation papers as managers of the company.
In an earlier interview both said they had no involvement with the company."

Read the entire article, A House of Cards in the Fort Worth Weekly. Trust us, read it all.