Pa. ethics agency suing ex-PHA chief for missed deadline

Ratcheting up pressure on former Philadelphia Housing Authority executive director Carl R. Greene, the state Ethics Commission filed suit Monday to force him to report his income and expenses from 2004 to 2009.

The commission's suit called for Commonwealth Court to enforce the agency's order last month that Greene properly file financial statements for the six years and pay the $1,500 fine the commission imposed.

Last week, Greene, who has a mailing address in Decatur, Ga., missed the deadline for an appeal before the commission. His attorney, Clifford Haines, sent a request for the commission to reconsider its order, but that letter arrived too late.

After the commission rejected his request, Haines said in an e-mailed statement to The Inquirer that the agency's effort to compel disclosure "concerns how many angels dance on the head of a pin, not a matter of meaningful significance."

Under a 1998 state law, public officials are required to report their financial interests annually. Commission Director John Contino said the disclosure statements would provide key information for determining if government officials have conflicts of interest.

"The citizens of this state have a right to know," Contino said Wednesday. "That is not insignificant."

It is unusual when an ethics commission goes to Commonwealth Court. Each year, about 1,000 people in government from across the state fail to file financial disclosure reports. But most of them comply after the commission notifies them of the filing requirement.

Greene did not respond to notifications in November 2010 and June 2011, the suit said.

He was then given the 30-day deadline, which expired March 14. The Haines letter arrived a day after the deadline.

In the two-page letter, Haines said Greene's departure from Philadelphia was "abrupt, highly public, and traumatic."

Greene was fired in September 2010 for failing to tell the PHA board about settlements with three women who had worked at the agency and filed sexual harassment complaints against him.

He reportedly sought medical attention for stress as details emerged about the complaints. The housing agency has paid $1.1 million to settle those complaints and a fourth that was filed after he left.

Haines' letter said Greene "fully intended to comply" with the filing requirement, but noted that his departure was "occasioned in large part by medical concerns" and that he left without his financial records.

Because of Greene's "continuing medical condition," he wanted three additional months before filing the required reports, the letter said.

Contino said the commission had already delivered the necessary paperwork to the sheriff in Harrisburg, who would arrange for Greene to be personally served with the commission's complaint.

According to the commission's filing, Greene purchased a three-bedroom townhouse last year in Decatur, near Atlanta.

An April 24 hearing in Harrisburg has been set in the case. If the court rules in favor of the commission and Greene does not comply, the court can hold Greene in contempt.