Room for Doubt

D.C. developer H.R. Crawford's troubled housing projects merited more scrutiny than they've gotten.

DEVELOPER and former D.C. Council member H.R. Crawford is right when he says that he's one of the few people willing to take on risky affordable housing projects. And no doubt he has the best of intentions in trying to help renters become homeowners. Open to question, though, are Mr. Crawford's methods and what some see as a shoddy track record in delivering results.

Officials with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development are investigating millions of dollars in public funding awarded to Mr. Crawford over the past decade. That development comes after The Post's Debbie Cenziper found unchecked spending and questionable deals in a project developed by Mr. Crawford in Southeast. Among the more troubling revelations about the $25 million in HUD money for Walter E. Washington Estates is the plight of the original tenants who vacated their homes on a promise that they would be able to return to a better place. Of the 141 townhouses that were built, just three original tenants bought in, while units went to city officials, Mr. Crawford's employees and even his daughter. Having a mix of families with different incomes is an aim in redeveloping blighted neighborhoods, but doubts linger over whether Mr. Crawford followed HUD directives in helping original tenants to qualify.

Mr. Crawford denied any improper use of government money, telling us that his only aim has been to build better neighborhoods and that any review will vindicate his efforts. Four other projects in which Mr. Crawford is involved, and for which he has received government money, have stalled. To be fair, the current economic conditions with a tight credit market are partly to blame but, as Ms. Cenziper showed, neither HUD nor city officials were really paying much attention to Mr. Crawford. The biggest burden for monitoring falls to local officials, and it's disturbing that they have provided what HUD officials called "materially inaccurate" information.

Many of the decisions involving Mr. Crawford predate Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D). But that doesn't let his administration off the hook in accounting for the best use of public money -- or in determining who in the city can deliver on the promise of affordable housing.