Vague figures given

Board members can't explain how some money was spent.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR PENNSYLVANIA BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Affordable Housing of Lawrence County is looking to sell its assets and dissolve over the next six months, but the embattled nonprofit has raised more questions about its past activities with an accounting it gave to Lawrence County commissioners.
Commissioners Ed Fosnaught and Dan Vogler released the Affordable Housing information at their Thursday caucus meeting. Vogler said Deno DeLorenzo, Affordable Housing board member and treasurer, gave him the information in a letter Tuesday. The letter is addressed to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
DeLorenzo said he decided to release the information because of public outrage over Affordable Housing.
Last week, Fosnaught called for Affordable Housing to publicly answer his questions. He asked for an accounting of its finances more than a month ago and had received no response.
DeLorenzo, who joined the board last month, could not explain some of the figures he put together in the letter.
No income shown
The letter says Affordable Housing's 2005 receipts showed no income from a contract it had with the Housing Authority of Lawrence County to collect money from laundry machines at the authority's high-rises. But the letter does show a $4,563.36 laundry commission was paid in disbursements. The letter shows Affordable Housing earned $20,602 from that laundry contract in 2004.
"How do you pay a commission on no deposits?" Fosnaught asked.
DeLorenzo would only call the numbers "very strange," but could offer no explanation for them.
Federal officials have been investigating Affordable Housing over the past few weeks.
Ducky Conti, a former Affordable Housing board member, said the finances and coin laundry collection were handled by board member Jon Librandi, who died after a September motorcycle crash. Conti said he had no financial reports from Librandi for about six months before his death because the board met infrequently.
Conti helped collect the laundry money the three months after Librandi's accident, but could not explain why there were no receipts for the months of October, November and December.
The county housing authority voted last month to terminate its laundry contract with Affordable Housing.
Consulting payments
DeLorenzo's report says the bulk of Affordable Housing's costs were payments to Diamond Consulting, owned by Rob Ratkovich, who also is New Castle City Council president and housing authority maintenance director.
In 2004, $33,944 was paid in consulting fees. Ratkovich said he took the bulk of that money, but some was paid to another consultant who left the organization that year. And in 2005, Affordable Housing paid Ratkovich $18,528 for real estate acquisition consulting and $11,251.73 for alternative site consulting.
The group also sent Ratkovich to conferences both years. Ratkovich said he did not recall attending a conference in 2005, but believes he attended one in 2004 in Harrisburg.
There are other unexplainable disbursements on DeLorenzo's balance sheet. None of the board members can explain $2,000 spent on "Rewards" in 2004.
Conti, who joined the board in January 2004, said the rewards may have been money given out as reward for missing police radios taken from the county housing authority.
Nick Maiorano, authority public safety director, said a $600 reward was given out for the return of one of three missing police radios, but he received that money from authority accounts, not Affordable Housing.
Affordable Housing came under scrutiny late last year after taking out a $250,000 bank loan to buy seven duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes in New Castle at prices far above their county assessed values. Most were owned by New Castle Schools Assistant Superintendent Nick DeRosa and his cousin, Harry DeRosa.
Affordable Housing was created in October 2003, when the housing authority gave the group a $200,000 loan. The group initially intended to build housing for handicapped people in Union Township, but that plan ended when they could not get proper zoning clearances. The group looked at building housing elsewhere, but then changed plans and bought the New Castle houses.
DeLorenzo, who joined the board in January with the last remaining board member Bill Bonner, said they intend to dissolve the nonprofit in the next six months, but before dissolving they will attempt to fully occupy the seven duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes, and an eighth home bought last summer and sell them on the open market.
cioffi@vindy.com