QUESTION
Why does NYCHA continue to outsource contracts despite in-house specialists, and what changes are recommended to address this?
0:57:03
·
3 min
The Department of Investigation suggests multiple changes to NYCHA's contracting and procurement processes, emphasizing the need for better corruption risk training, vendor checks, and data analysis on trivial purchases.
- Council Member Althea V. Stevens questions the rationale behind NYCHA's continued outsourcing despite available in-house units for tasks such as painting.
- Commissioner Jocelyn Strauber points out previous oversight in cost estimates and inadequate anti-corruption measures as part of the problem.
- Recommended improvements include thorough vendor scrutiny, detailed itemization of work and costs, and effective use of data analysis to identify discrepancies in trivial purchases.
- The challenge of detecting certain misconducts due to purchases falling under the $10,000 threshold is highlighted, suggesting centralization as a potential solution.
- Despite the recommended changes, there is concern about over-correction and the potential for slowing down processes for NYCHA residents.
Althea V. Stevens
0:57:03
You have units in nature where they have painters or they had carpenters, but they were still contracting out.
0:57:09
And so why wasn't that a trigger for something just didn't seem right that we were continuously contracting them out?
0:57:14
And so other than the recommendations where other things are we looking for because I think that are some systems that's already in place that we already missed.
Jocelyn Strauber
0:57:23
Well, certainly, I think the the the cost estimates is one, you know, thing that that we could have been looking for, but but we're not.
0:57:33
Right?
0:57:34
That was one of the things that that we recommended.
0:57:36
I think what what Nietta did instead was to have additional training about corruption risks, to have additional checking of vendors, but I think that didn't go far enough.
0:57:50
So, you know, it's it's the the way we looked at the situation in a sense.
0:57:54
The answer to your question in our view was these were the additional changes that we needed.
0:57:59
So, you know, they were requiring vendors itemize exactly what work they were doing and what that work would cost.
0:58:06
But that obviously wasn't enough to overcome the fact that as alleged you had housing development staff who were basically willing, you know, to to to engage in this misconduct with with the vendors.
0:58:18
And when you have a set of purchases that are not subject to review because they fall under that $10,000 threshold.
0:58:28
It's difficult to catch that sort of conduct because you're never you're never seeing an expense that's going above 10,000.
0:58:35
Now looking at data across NYCHA and seeing that a trivial purchase is, you know, 67 or 8000 in one development, but much less in another.
0:58:45
That could be a trigger, that could be data, that could be looked at to identify a red flag.
0:58:50
So there are, you know, there are things we could do to try to catch this conduct short of centralization.
0:58:57
We we recommend that because based on what we've seen, that seems to be the most effective response.
Althea V. Stevens
0:59:06
Yeah.
0:59:06
I mean, because, again, like, like, I think that those things are true on that on that time is up.
0:59:11
But I I think that is very true even in the sense of, like, yes.
0:59:14
We wanna make sure that we're checking these things.
0:59:17
But, like, even I remember they had a painting unit, but they contracted those things out.
0:59:21
And so I just don't understand, like, there are things that feel like could have been in place that were triggers that we kinda just missed.
0:59:26
And so, like, even with the recommendations, yes, I think that they kinda make sense.
0:59:30
And and even the some of the things that some of my colleagues said around, like, how are we using technology to kind of, like, expedite these things so they can move in expeditious way, I think, also needs to be considered.
0:59:39
But also think that there were things that we just kinda missed because if there was a painting unit, like, our for I remember one time we needed to get the community sent a painting, And I said, well, why can't we use the painting, you know, why can't we use your guys?
0:59:50
They were like, no.
0:59:51
We're just gonna contract it out.
0:59:52
And there was and I know that they were micro purchases, but, like, 6 $1000 is a lot for a painting job when you have a crew in in the development that already does that.
1:00:03
And so I think you know, I don't want us to get to a place where we're over correcting and then residents are waiting that much longer and we're clogging up the process because We wanna make sure it doesn't happen again, especially when there was always things that were in place that were triggers that we should have been looking at to make sure these weren't happening.
1:00:19
Because to purchase anything in this city contract is already difficult.
1:00:26
So adding more layers isn't going to catch it.
1:00:28
I think it's when we're not paying attention.
1:00:30
So I just wanted to make sure it was stated.
1:00:32
Thank you.