CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - Gov. Jim Justice has named the head of the West Virginia National Guard to oversee a program to help victims of 2016 floods obtain federal housing assistance after complaints of poor management and residents receiving no help.
Justice said at a news conference Monday that James Hoyer, the state Guard’s adjutant general, will take control of the RISE West Virginia program from the state Department of Commerce, which had been appointed in 2016 by then-Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin.
Justice said he temporarily stopped the flood recovery program earlier this year after it was discovered that a contract change order for $17 million had not been properly vetted. The $17 million involved a consulting contract with Horne LLP, a Mississippi-based firm that helps states respond to natural disasters.
A subsequent investigation uncovered problems within the Commerce Department and the RISE program, which has received $150 million in community development block grants for disaster recovery from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Justice said the HUD money wasn’t made available until this past February. The RISE program began receiving applications for assistance last August but little money had been doled out.
“Without any question, there needs to be realignment within the Commerce Department,” Justice said. “There are shortcomings and pitfalls that have happened. There’s no question that Commerce has dropped the ball.”
Justice didn’t specify what the problems were but said some employees would be terminated. He declined to say whether Commerce Secretary Woody Thrasher was among them.
Justice said a November 2017 news release from the Commerce Department in which Thrasher said more than 1,100 families had been served was “totally inaccurate.”
The governor said Hoyer will continue to work with Commerce employees. He said the consulting contact will be reduced to $9 million or $10 million.
“Now that we’ve exposed the problems, I think you’ll see movement immediately,” Justice said. “I’m trying to fix it - I will have it fixed.”
The June 2016 floods following severe thunderstorms killed 23 people statewide and destroyed or damaged thousands of homes, businesses and schools.
A letter last month from state Senate President Mitch Carmichael and House of Delegates Speaker Tim Armstead to the co-chairs of the joint legislative committee on flooding said many survivors of the 2016 floods are still waiting for help.
Hoyer said in order to speed up the process, state case management systems under the Federal Emergency Management Agency and RISE West Virginia will be monitored separately through a disaster response group, the West Virginia Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster.
“We’re going to see how many people still have a housing requirement,” Hoyer said. “Those will be prioritized.”
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