LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A City Council committee is scheduled to hear a recommendation Monday concerning the removal of Mark Adams, the receiver appointed to oversee 29 dilapidated buildings in the Skid Row area that house about 1,500 low-income tenants.
The council's Budget, Finance and Innovation Committee will meet at 2 p.m. to discuss the Housing Department's recommendation that Adams be dismissed, and a related recommendation to authorize a $10 million loan to maintain and repair the buildings, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.
"The city has been considering alternatives available to resolve what has become an unfortunately disappointing performance by the current receiver," Housing Dept. General Manager Ann Sewill wrote.
The council does not have the authority to fire Adams, who was appointed by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge at the city's request. The council would have to petition Judge Mitchell Beckloff to dismiss Adams and appoint a new receiver.
The buildings are owned in whole or in part by the Skid Row Housing Trust, which collapsed financially earlier this year.
Sewill released a report Friday stating that some of the buildings could be irreparably damaged and should be demolished, the newspaper reported, adding that many of the tenants suffer from "filth, clogged plumbing, pest infestations and constant intrusions by street people who use drugs, set off fire alarms and sleep in hallways."
Adams has drawn criticism for allegedly failing to make progress on rehabilitating the buildings and finding credit at good rates. Last spring, a firm he hired sent eviction notices to hundreds of tenants who were behind on rent. Adams, whose appointment did not include the authority to evict tenants, said he did not authorize the notices and retracted them.
Adams told The Times that he would respond to the city's report next week in court, and cited Beckloff's previously stated support for him.
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