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| Ron Book |
05/21/2012
By Francisco Alvarado
The longtime executive director of the Miami-Dade Homeless Trust is set to retire, ending his term atop the agency amidst an ongoing lawsuit accusing him of bid-rigging.
David Raymond, who has led the homeless group for a decade, improperly helped steer a $15 million contract to build a 300-bed homeless shelter in Homestead -- or least that's what another company that lost out on the bid claims in court. The claim is just the latest turbulence for the trust, which has also been criticized for its role in the homeless sex offender colony under the Julia Tuttle Causeway.
- Read more here and see videos here.
Back in 2009, a company named Jaxi Builders won a contract to build the Verde Gardens Complex, a Homestead shelter on the site of a former air force base. But another firm, Siltek Group Inc., says it actually submitted a better bid.
Oscar Soto, an attorney representing Siltek, says Raymond pressured officials from Carrfour Supportive Housing -- the non-profit agency in charge of the project - to ignore Siltek's offer, even though it was $2.6 million lower than Jaxi's bid. The trust controlled the project's budget, which consisted of county and federal public housing funds, which gave Raymond heft over who was chosen.
"Raymond was directing Carrfour on what to do," Soto claims. "He interfered with the bidding process. The end result is that the lowest bidder didn't get the job and it cost taxpayers a lot of money."
Officials for Carrfour declined to comment. Raymond could not be reached for comment on Friday, but Homeless Trust Board Chairman Ronald Book said Soto's accusations are absurd.
- Mr. Book has, in the past, been under investigation by the FBI, see here.
"Raymond's integrity is unquestioned," says Book, who in his day job is Dade County's most prominent lobbyist. "He is tireless in his work and guides our day-to-day operation with a level of commitment unknown in governmental circles."
Raymond leaves after a tumultuous tenure. This past March, the trust came under fire for allegedly failing to keep tabs on at least six homeless sex offenders that turned up in the Shorecrest neighborhood of Miami.
The men were part of the encampment that lived under the Julia Tuttle bridge until nonstop media coverage and complaints from elected officials forced the trust to find the men inexpensive housing throughout the county in 2010.
There's no timetable yet on hiring a new head for the trust.
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