LAHSA adopts conflict of interest policy after LAist exposes ethics gaps

The top homelessness agency for the Los Angeles region approved its first-ever conflict of interest policy Friday, months after LAist reporting revealed that the agency's CEO signed contracts with a nonprofit tied to her husband.

The new policy establishes procedures the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority says are designed to safeguard it from legal, financial and reputational risks.

It says LAHSA officials with real or perceived conflicts will no longer be named on contract signature lines. Contracts involving conflicts must be approved by the commission.

“This is not a change in values, it is a refinement of process,” Holly Henderson, LAHSA’s director of risk management, said at a Friday meeting of the commission that governs the agency.

At least one commission member said she was unaware that the agency, which oversees hundreds of millions in taxpayer-funded homeless services, had no previous, formal written policy.

“I just wanted to ask what the changes were from the existing policy,” said LAHSA commissioner Tamela Omoto-Frias. “Or is all of this brand new?”

Henderson said the policy was new, but some of its provisions had already been in practice.

LAist’s findings

The new policy requires LAHSA authorities who have a conflict of interest to be "fully recused from contracting processes, including planning, negotiations, approvals, or amendments."

It applies to all LAHSA staff, commissioners, consultants, contractors and service providers.

The policy follows LAist's reporting in February that now-former LAHSA CEO Va Lecia Adams Kellum signed a $2.1-million contract with her husband's employer, Upward Bound House.

Adams Kellum told commissioners previously that she had walled herself off from anything involving the organization. She resigned several months later and was replaced by interim CEO Gita O’Neill.

In July, LAHSA released findings from an investigation by an outside law firm that cleared Adams Kellum of wrongdoing. The investigation concluded her signature was "unintentionally applied to the UBH contracts by her staff without her knowledge or direction."

But that finding contradicts electronic signature records obtained by LAist that show the documents were "viewed" and "e-signed by Va Lecia Adams Kellum" using her official LAHSA email account.

Neither LAHSA nor the law firm responded to questions about this discrepancy.

L.A. county counsel refused to disclose the law firm's billing rate or hours for the law firm’s investigation. LAHSA said the law firm’s report is covered by attorney-client privilege.

New revelations

LAist's review of contracting records reveal Adams Kellum's conflicts potentially extended beyond the one involving her husband's employer.

In April 2023, soon after becoming LAHSA’s CEO, her signature appeared on a quarter-million-dollar LAHSA contract for street outreach services with the nonprofit St. Joseph Center — the organization she led for years until two months earlier.

A screenshot from a LAHSA contract with St. Joseph Center

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Adams Kellum left St. Joseph Center in February 2023 to join L.A. Mayor Karen Bass’ administration, according to the nonprofit.

The contract was signed so soon after her leaving the nonprofit that the contract paperwork still listed her as one of its points of contact and authorized signers.

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A screenshot from the 2023 contract

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Electronic signature records show the contract documents were reviewed and signed through Adams Kellum’s official email account on April 5.

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It’s illegal under California law for local government officials to be involved in decisions about contracts with organizations that paid them more than $500 within the previous 12 months.

Adams Kellum was paid more than $360,000 by St. Joseph Center in the year before her signature appeared on the contract, according to the nonprofit’s public tax filing.

LAHSA did not respond to questions about the St. Joseph Center contract.

Va Lecia Adams Kellum did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

Policy reforms

After LAist started asking questions last December, LAHSA has acknowledged it failed for years to require about 300 staff members who can influence contracts to file state-mandated financial disclosure forms, only correcting this nearly two years into Adams Kellum’s tenure at LAHSA.

Those disclosure requirements, known as Form 700s, are designed to identify potential conflicts before they become problems. The new policy says those employees will need to complete annual ethics training and file disclosure forms.

Commissioner Wendy Greuel said at Friday’s meeting that LAHSA had been reviewing conflicts of interests, even without a formal written policy.

“This is great and I'm glad we have this conflict of interest policy, but I do wanna make it clear that there's been engagement and advice and counsel and all of that on conflicts,” she said. “It’s not like there hasn’t been some review.”