SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — San Diego County Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe — with help from three community leaders — on Monday again called for a financial audit of how Kentucky-based Equus managed the emergency housing program after the historic January floods.
Montgomery Steppe said the county had no choice but to hire Equus to oversee the housing of flood victims in hotels because there was an emergency and there already was a contract in place with the company.
Equus oversaw how millions of dollars were spent, and Team 10 previously found the county contract paid Equus employees up to $256 an hour despite widespread complaints of poor service, lost information and sending one family to a hotel that had shut down.
In going with Equus, the county snubbed local nonprofit agencies that initially helped hundreds of residents flooded from their homes.
Equus did not respond to requests for comment.
"Our community based organizations were incredible in the immediate response to the disaster, and we had hopes that Equus would foster a smooth transition and execute a response to this crisis in good faith," Montgomery Steppe said at a Monday press conference. "Unfortunately, my office continuously heard the contrary. Those who sought help were met with disorganization, misinformation and feeling that their information wasn't secure."
Montgomery Steppe in an exclusive interview Friday with Team 10 initially called for the audit of Equus, saying "community trust has been broken" and she wants to create a system of "accountability and transparency."
On Monday, community advocate Tasha Williamson, Harvey Family Foundation CFO Clariza Marin and JIREH Providers Founder Samantha Williams joined the supervisor in downtown San Diego at the county administration center.
They too urged the Board of Supervisors to approve an audit during their Tuesday meeting.
Montgomery Steppe wants the audit done within four months.
She also wants a detailed analysis of Equus' actual expenditures versus the contracted amounts it was to be paid. She also wants to know the number of households that were provided with temporary lodging and their lengths of stay.
In addition, she wants the audit to examine the data security of those households and how complaints were resolved.
Further, she hopes the audit will level the playing field so local nonprofit organizations can be hired in the future to assist with natural disasters.
That's good news to Marin, whose organization was passed over in favor of Equus.
"We stand committed to ensuring that future responses are faster, fair and far more transparent and organized because our communities deserve better," she said.
Meanwhile, Williamson credited Team 10 for its reporting that led to the call for an audit.
"I want to say thank you Craig Harris from Channel 10News for your reporting about Equus, and the public records request he put in because that garnished attention to community members," Williamson said. "It was well understood in this reporting what happened. And community members were able then to come together and talk with their politicians, and Monica Montgomery, and ask 'What are we going to do?' How did they spend this money?"
