Missouri housing panel adopts new ethics rules

AP

Saturday, August 1, 2009

JEFFERSON CITY - The Missouri Housing Development Commission voted Friday to approve new ethics rules after a state audit raised concerns about conflicts of interest.

The new ethics package requires housing commissioners and agency staff to disclose conflicts of interest and recuse themselves from decision-making, forces developers seeking state assistance to disclose the project's owner and development team and makes enforcement easier. All agency officials and employees will be required to file financial disclosure statements with the Missouri Ethics Commission.

Commissioners and some high-ranking staff members also will be barred from accepting jobs from people seeking state aid. And developers will have to disclose the hiring of former commissioners or agency staff.

The Housing Development Commission uses tax credits and tax-free bonds to help finance construction of affordable houses and apartments. Its oversight commission includes the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, state treasurer and six gubernatorial appointees.

The new rules come amid scrutiny of the housing agency. A June state audit identified several potential ethical lapses and urged the creation of new guidelines, and separately, the agency's executive director has told The Associated Press that the FBI has interviewed him as part of an investigation into low-income housing projects in Missouri.

State Treasurer Clint Zweifel, who is the commission's chairman, said Friday that new ethics policies were overdue and would help restore public confidence in the agency's decisions. "I think that every day we wait, it destroys and hurts the ability of this agency to achieve its mission," Zweifel told commissioners.

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