Tempe needs to declare all conflict hints

Jul. 28, 2006 12:00 AM

It appears that Councilman Ben Arredondo's stepsister tried to follow all the right paths to receive housing help from the city.

Aida Millanes and her husband, Henry, met all the income requirements for the programs and declared their association with Arredondo at the time the application was filed.

But Tempe still may be in hot water for not declaring the potential conflict with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The city already is the focus of a federal investigation regarding the federal funds it gave to Councilwoman Barb Carter's son.

According to an internal inquiry released in May, Colby Carter should not have received an interest-free loan and two grants to make home repairs because the city didn't first get a special exception with the feds.

The report noted that although Carter initially disclosed that his mother was a councilwoman, he did not check the appropriate boxes on subsequent applications.

It reported that Carter had no documented code violations, even though that was a requirement for one of the grants he received, and concluded that Carter's income was too high to participate in the programs.

The facts in the Arredondo case are not so eyebrow raising. The Millaneses easily qualified for the aid and used the money for its intended purpose. And, as we said before, they declared a potential family conflict.

But the problem is the same here as in the Colby Carter case. Tempe rounded some corners, relying on an informal opinion from the city attorney's office not to contact HUD. No one ever bothered to get clarification of the federal regulations.

Let these embarrassing cases be a lesson, then.

When dealing with federal money, or any other kind of taxpayer money for that matter, it pays to take a little extra time, fully research the issues and make sure all I's are dotted and T's crossed.

Not only will that spare federal investigations, but it also will inspire more public trust in the way Tempe does business.