logo
    • Magazine
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Racial Justice
  • Economic Justice
    • Collections
  • Climate Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Leadership
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Subscribe
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Complimentary Webinars
    • Premium On-Demand Webinars
  • Membership
  • Submissions

Ousted Philadelphia Housing Chief’s Nonprofit Unraveling Amid Scrutiny

Rick Cohen
December 17, 2010
Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print

December 13, 2010; Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | Not long before the executive director of the Philadelphia Housing Authority, Carl Greene, was canned for “failing to report a series of sexual-harassment claims against him”, he set up a nonprofit called the Pennsylvania Association of Public Service Agencies (PAPSA), recruited a few state-related agencies to join, and added in some funds from PHA accounts. A HUD forensic audit of Greene’s former agency has suggested that the PHA money in PAPSA might not have been legit. For now Greene isn’t talking, and the other members of PAPSA are running for the hills—and calling for PAPSA’s dissolution.

PAPSA has the ostensible if vague mission, according to a PHA spokesperson, “to improve the efficiency of all its members by sharing best practices and certain resources, such as public information, financial management, human resources, and strategic planning.” PAPSA has the feel of a nonprofit created as a soft landing for a public agency executive who knew he was going to get sacked.

Greene had recruited as PAPSA officers the chairman of the Delaware River Port Authority (which paid PAPSA $90,000 in “dues”), the chairman of the School Reform Commission, and the board chairman of Temple University. The DRPA, SRC, and Temple PAPSA board members all happen to be high-priced Philadelphia lawyers who had done six- and seven-figures worth of business with Greene at the PHA. Was their joining Greene’s new organization a way of saying thank you for the past business?

Sign up for our free newsletters

Subscribe to NPQ's newsletters to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

Part of a “wide-ranging criminal probe of PHA, including two other PHA-related nonprofits created by Greene,” the HUD audit questioned the legality of the PHA’s $50,000 membership fee and an additional $29,000 in federal funds spent by the agency for PAPSA’s legal start-up work. As word of Greene’s alleged sexual harassment problems at the PHA leaked out, the PAPSA’s agency members grew very uncomfortable, some not delivering their budgeted dues payments (such as $35,000 from the SRC) and others asking for their money back (for example, $25,000 from Philadelphia Parking Authority). The Philadelphia Inquirer headline suggests that PAPSA was unraveling, but the nonprofit organization seems to have been threadbare from the beginning.

The story raises obvious questions: Didn’t anyone on the PHA’s board ever do any due diligence over the connection, if any, of PAPSA to the PHA’s public housing mission?  How could top white shoe Philadelphia lawyers with combined decades of legal work for public agencies turn a blind eye to their apparent conflicts of interest in signing on with Greene’s dubious nonprofit venture? Although state-related agencies in Pennsylvania seem to operate with little regulatory oversight, wasn’t there anyone at the Pennsylvania AG’s office or the Pennsylvania Department of State prepared to use the sniff test about Greene’s pre- and post-PHA nonprofit organizing activities? It sounds like everyone was committed to a “see no evil, hear no evil” strategy while being aware that there was a great possibility of doing evil.—Rick Cohen

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print
About the author
Rick Cohen

Rick joined NPQ in 2006, after almost eight years as the executive director of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP). Before that he played various roles as a community worker and advisor to others doing community work. He also worked in government. Cohen pursued investigative and analytical articles, advocated for increased philanthropic giving and access for disenfranchised constituencies, and promoted increased philanthropic and nonprofit accountability.

More about: Nonprofit News

Become a member

Support independent journalism and knowledge creation for civil society. Become a member of Nonprofit Quarterly.

Members receive unlimited access to our archived and upcoming digital content. NPQ is the leading journal in the nonprofit sector written by social change experts. Gain access to our exclusive library of online courses led by thought leaders and educators providing contextualized information to help nonprofit practitioners make sense of changing conditions and improve infra-structure in their organizations.

Join Today
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

Spring-2023-sidebar-subscribe
You might also like
5 Land Defense Protests Around the World
Iris Crawford
Turning Toward EV Frontline Communities
Katherine Leah Pace
Muslim Women Are Reclaiming The Narrative
Anmol Irfan
How Policy Is Building a Social Economy in South Korea
Minsun Ji
Nonprofits and Movements: How Do the Two Relate?
Steve Dubb
Human-Centered Design for Behavioral Health
Sonia Sarkar

NPQ Webinars

April 27th, 2 pm ET

Liberatory Decision-Making

How to Facilitate and Engage in Healthy Decision-making Processes

Register Now
You might also like
AOC’s “Tax the Rich” Dress Dazzles Met Gala, while...
Anastasia Reesa Tomkin
Foundation Giving Numbers for 2020 Show 15 Percent Increase
Steve Dubb
Strike MoMA Imagines Art Museums without Billionaires
Tessa Crisman

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

See our newsletters

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

NPQ-Spring-2023-cover

Independent & in your mailbox.

Subscribe today and get a full year of NPQ for just $59.

subscribe
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Copyright
  • Careers

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.