Zweifel: Ethics policy for MHDC is top priority

By Jason Noble
The Kansas City Star
June 23, 2009

JEFFERSON CITY | State Treasurer Clint Zweifel on Tuesday outlined several rules he wants included in an updated code of conduct for the Missouri Housing Development Commission.

The commission finances housing development for people with low and moderate incomes and administers several state and federal housing programs and tax credits. It has long been criticized for inefficiency and mismanagement and officials recently have acknowledged an FBI investigation into its practices.

Zweifel became chairman of the commission last month, after taking office as treasurer in January.

Amidst all the controversy over its management, the commission has been in talks for years about reworking its code of conduct to better guide relations between commission members and developers receiving assistance.

On Tuesday, Zweifel said updating the code was his "top and immediate priority."

"Taxpayers deserve a policy that ensures open, transparent and accountable governance of the MHDC," Zweifel said.

Specifically, he called for:

* all MHDC documents to be provided online for public viewing;

* a ban on personal financial relationships between MHDC officials and any entity receiving benefits from the commission;

* disclosure of business relationships by applicants for MHDC work or funding programs;

* a waiting period before former commission officials could go to work for recipients of MHDC funding; and

* enforcement mechanisms that could ban individuals from applying for MHDC benefits.

"I intend to lead this agency to a standard of conduct policy with professional, competent reform that makes sense and builds the public trust," Zweifel said.

Commission members first began discussing and updated ethics policy in 2007, after a Commissioner Bill Luetkenhaus was criticized for selling land to a developer who had had business before the commission. Luetkenhaus bought a tract of land for $931,794 in September, 2006, and sold it two months later to developer Jeff Smith for $1.7 million, the Associated Press has reported.

State Auditor Susan Montee will release an audit of the MHDC tomorrow.