February 14, 2004
Details On The Housing Inspector Investigation
Now that we've established that we bungled proper reportorial procedure regarding the investigation referred to by Commissioner Randy Leonard, we can turn to an article in today's Oregonian which explains what's up:
The city of Portland is investigating allegations that housing inspectors bought or tried to buy houses from vulnerable owners after running up violations on the homes.
The city has placed two housing inspectors and one former housing supervisor on paid administrative leave. Other employees are being interviewed, said Commissioner Randy Leonard, who oversees the office.
According to the article, the City Council gave Leonard approval late last year to spend $200,000 on an outside investigation, and both the police and the district attorney are investigating as well.
"The allegations were that the inspectors directly involved in enforcement actions on properties subsequently did purchase, or attempted to purchase, those properties," Leonard said. "The issue here is you target a house, you start having citations put on the house, you have liens put on the house, and you purchase it."
Click through to the article for further details on the employees placed on leave, and some indications that additional people are under investigation.