State Board of Ethics OKs new director for state housing agency, despite conflict concerns
LANSING – The woman chosen to head Michigan's state housing agency can take the job, despite her husband's significant business dealings with the agency, the state Board of Ethics said Thursday in a unanimous vote.
In October, the Michigan State Housing Development Authority selected Amy Hovey as its top choice for the agency's new executive director. Hovey, who is special projects coordinator for the C.S. Mott Foundation in Flint, would be the first woman to head the agency, other than on an interim basis.
Hovey's husband, Timothy Hovey, has done extensive business with MSHDA through his companies' work on various housing developments that have received loans and tax credits through the state agency. He wants to continue doing business with MSHDA if his wife gets the job, MSHDA Chair Susan Corbin said in an Oct. 22 letter to the Board of Ethics, obtained by the Free Press through Michigan's Freedom of Information Act.
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Corbin said the agency has a plan to set up "conflict walls" that would separate Amy Hovey from any projects involving her husband's firms, but it wants the Board of Ethics to sign off on the plan before making Hovey's appointment official. The informal opinion from the state board is needed to get required signoffs from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which funds two programs Hovey's husband may want to continue to access, Corbin said.
In 5-0 votes, the board said that the conflicts are not pervasive in a way that would keep Hovey from doing her job while complying with state law and the planned conflict walls appear to be sufficient.
The State Ethics Act bars public officers or employees from business dealings in which they have a personal or financial interest. The Board of Ethics said in a 2009 case that a personal interest includes the interest of a family member, and it is not good enough for public officers to recuse themselves from certain decisions if the conflicts are "continuing, recurring and pervasive."
Corbin said in the letter that MSHDA expects conflicts involving the Hoveys to be "relatively isolated, infrequent, and limited," and they can be addressed through the planned conflict walls to comply with state law.
Catherine McClure, the chair of the ethics board, said the conflicts appear to be recurring and continuing, but not pervasive. Other board members agreed.
The board was told that Timothy Hovey has 16 loans with the board, which amount to less than 3% of the agency's portfolio.
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4. Read more on Michigan politics and sign up for our elections newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ethics board OKs head of state housing agency, despite conflict issues
