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L.A.’s top homeless services official Va Lecia Adams Kellum engaged in
major misconduct, including hiring unqualified friends into powerful
positions, trying to destroy public records and behaving inappropriately
at a conference, according to two whistleblower claim letters obtained by LAist.

The letters were written by an attorney on behalf of two former L.A.
Homeless Services Authority employees who alleged they were wrongfully
fired for speaking up against wrongdoing by Adams Kellum. Written claims
such as these are a required step before filing a lawsuit against a local government in California.

LAHSA arranged for $800,000 to be paid to the whistleblowers — former
chief financial and administrative officer Kristina Dixon and former top
IT and data official Emily Vaughn Henry — to settle the claims before they became public lawsuits. The settlement amount is equivalent to what it
costs to shelter as many as 40 unhoused people for a year, according to a recent audit’s summary of shelter costs.

Legal experts previously told LAist the agency was violating public
records laws by withholding the whistleblowers’ written allegations that
led to the payouts. But after continued questioning and two articles by
LAist about the experts’ analysis, LAHSA attorneys ultimately reversed themselves and released those letters — with extensive redactions that a
public records attorney says are unlawful.

Courts have repeatedly ruled that the public is entitled to know the
content of misconduct complaints and investigation findings about senior government officials.

A spokesperson for Adams Kellum’s administration said LAHSA denies the allegations, but said no formal investigations were started into the
specific allegations against her. Adams Kellum’s administration has not answered whether they reported the allegations to county auditor-
controller investigators — something required for all allegations of abuse
of LAHSA’s resources, according to an agreement LAHSA disclosed to LAist.

What the whistleblowers alleged
In the newly disclosed letters, the whistleblowers allege that:

Adams Kellum pushed out experienced staff to hire unqualified friends and former subordinates from her previous job into high-level, high salary
LAHSA roles.
One of these hires used their personal cell phone for official
communications, in violation of agency policy.
A LAHSA official repeatedly withheld accurate data about Mayor Karen Bass’ signature homelessness program, Inside Safe, “because [Adams] Kellum did
not want Mayor Bass to look bad.” (LAist previously reported that
officials withheld Inside Safe transparency reports from the L.A. City Council.) Vaughn Henry’s claim letter says Adams Kellum retaliated against
her “for not being willing [to] hide the number of clients being served by Inside Safe.”
Adams Kellum asked LAHSA’s top IT official to violate record retention
laws by deleting two official emails that had been sent to Adam’s Kellum’s LAHSA email account. The whistleblower letter claims this was intended to protect the person who had emailed Adams Kellum. The emails were sent “in violation of the City's communication policies regarding using personal
email for official business,” according to the claim. The name of the
email sender was blacked out by LAHSA’s attorneys — which a public records attorney says is unlawful.
Adams Kellum engaged in “inappropriate and unethical behavior” at a
conference in Washington, D.C. Vaughn Henry reported the behavior to human resources around August 2023, according to her claim. Adams Kellum
subsequently retaliated against Vaughn Henry for reporting the incident, according to the claim letter. The apparent description of Adams Kellum’s alleged misbehavior at the conference was redacted by LAHSA’s attorneys,
which a public records attorney says is unlawful.
Adams Kellum wanted to spend public money on an open bar at LAHSA’s
holiday party and responded angrily when told that would be an improper
use of taxpayer dollars and create legal liability for LAHSA. Adams Kellum
then allegedly suggested a vendor pay for the alcohol. When told that
would be a conflict of interest, Adams Kellum allegedly got angry again.
LAHSA leadership failed to commission a neutral investigation into
allegations, in violation of the agency’s own policy, according to one of
the letters.

[Click here to read Vaughn Henry’s claim letter, and here for Dixon’s.]

Settlements prevented public lawsuit and witness testimony
The claim letters said that if LAHSA didn’t settle the claims, the former executives would file a public lawsuit and gather extensive supporting
evidence and testimony for their allegations, which would become public
and potentially affect city and county officials.

“Once litigation is commenced, we intend to take thorough and exhaustive discovery and depose each of the employees, managers, and officers who witnessed, encouraged, condoned, and turned a blind eye to the unlawful
acts of the LAHSA, [Adams] Kellum, and elected officials having authority
over LAHSA,” the letters state. “There is already a high level of public
and media interest in the recent terminations at LAHSA, and a public
lawsuit will undoubtedly have far-reaching repercussions for many City and County officials.”

In March, LAHSA’s governing commission authorized $800,000 in settlement payments to resolve the claims and prevent a public lawsuit. The
commissioners were not provided copies of the claim letters for their
decision on the settlement payments, according to LAHSA.

LAHSA paid $200,000 of the settlements out of city and county general fund money, and the other $600,000 was paid by LAHSA’s insurance provider
Chubb, according to the agency.

LAHSA denies the allegations, which weren’t investigated
“The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) denied the
allegations presented in the letters and resolved these matters with
advice of outside counsel and based upon many factors, including business considerations,” the agency said in an emailed statement attributed to
Ahmad Chapman, LAHSA’s spokesperson.

“LAHSA does not wish to ‘litigate’ this case in the media and will offer
no further comment on this matter,” the statement said.

The allegations were not formally investigated.

“After a diligent search LAHSA has determined that no complaints were
filed related to the allegations described, and therefore no formal investigation [was] initiated against Dr. Adams Kellum," said a public
records response to LAist from Holly Henderson, risk management director
at LAHSA.

Adams Kellum’s administration has not answered a follow up question about
why an independent investigation was not conducted into the demand
letters' allegations after they were received. They also have not answered whether the allegations against Adams Kellum were previously reported to
human resources or risk management director Holly Henderson.

Other local governments have policies to hire an outside law firm or investigator to look into allegations against high-ranking officials — as Orange County did in recent years with high-ranking officials.

Adams Kellum did not respond to multiple requests for comment. She and her administration’s spokespeople declined to answer what LAHSA’s policy is
for retaining official emails.

Bass’ office referred LAist’s questions to LAHSA’s attorneys, who have not responded. The questions included whether Bass has used her personal email account to communicate with Adams Kellum about official business.

LAist requested copies of the emails Adams Kellum allegedly wanted
deleted. Adams Kellum’s administration did not respond for 11 days, before saying they needed an additional two weeks to answer whether they exist
because they need to consult with a separate, unnamed agency interested in
the records request.

Dixon and Vaughn Henry declined to comment. Their settlement agreements
with LAHSA state that they cannot “volunteer knowingly or maliciously
false and disparaging opinions or commentary regarding [LAHSA],” including
on social media or responding to news reporters.

The settlement deals also say that LAHSA will “maintain the
confidentiality of the terms, conditions, payment amounts, and other
aspects of this settlement and Settlement Agreement to the extent
permitted by applicable law” — despite settlement agreements being public records under the California Public Records Act.

LAHSA refused to release the records — until LAist kept pushing back
For weeks, LAHSA’s attorneys at the County Counsel’s office refused to
release the whistleblower claims that led to the settlement payouts —
despite courts repeatedly ruling that those types of records have to be disclosed.

The fact that the claims have been settled — and taxpayer money paid out — makes it even more clear that the public has a right to see them, said
David Loy, a leading public records attorney in California and legal
director at the First Amendment Coalition.

LAHSA attorneys Dan Kim and Alyssa Skolnick argued that several exemptions allowed the agency to withhold the records, including attorney-client privilege.

But Loy said none of the exemptions apply. For example, attorney-client privilege is about communications between an attorney and their own client
— not claims filed by an outside party.

LAHSA’s attorneys then declined to respond to Loy’s point-by-point
analysis of why their reasons for withholding the records go against court rulings.

LAist has published two articles on LAHSA withholding the records in
apparent violation of state law, and is continuing to question top
officials about why they were withholding the documents.

LAist escalated the questioning to the county’s top attorney, County
Counsel Dawyn Harrison, who oversees the attorneys refusing to release the documents.

Harrison ultimately disclosed the two documents, with redactions.

The redactions, however, are not lawful, Loy said. And most of the court rulings Harrison pointed to for the redactions require public disclosure, according to the summaries she provided of the rulings.

LAHSA’s redactions are unlawful, expert says
The claims ultimately disclosed to LAist have extensive redactions —
including the name of Adams Kellum’s former employer, the names of
allegedly unqualified LAHSA executives she hired, and the name of
officials who allegedly used their personal email account for official business.

Loy said courts have been clear that exemptions which might be applicable
in other contexts, including privacy, do not apply to written litigation
claims or demands to public agencies.

If a litigation threat or demand is made and the agency settles — in these cases for $800,000 — "the public has the right to know all of the evidence claimed by the claimants to be able to assess for itself, was this a good
deal or a bad deal to settle these claims,” Loy told LAist.

He strongly disputed the reasons Harrison cited for the redactions.

“The agency cannot claim attorney-client privilege over a document sent to
it by their adversary’s lawyer,” he said. "I’m baffled as to how they can
claim attorney-client privilege is implicated in a communication from
opposing counsel.”

Harrison has not responded to a follow-up email from LAist explaining
Loy’s analysis of the redactions as unlawful and asking for an explanation backing up the redactions.

Praise for Adams Kellum after $800,000 payouts
Bass and her LAHSA Commission appointee, Wendy Greuel, brought Adams
Kellum to LAHSA and have been two of her highest profile supporters after
a series of controversies. Those controversies include a court-overseen
audit finding a lack of accountability for taxpayer dollars during her
time overseeing LAHSA, and signing a $2.1 million taxpayer deal to pay a nonprofit that employs her husband as a senior leader, despite laws
against conflicts of interest and Adams Kellum previously claiming she
recused herself.

Bass and Greuel have spoken highly of Adams Kellum in recent weeks,
including after the $800,000 payouts were approved over the misconduct
claims with no public indication of an investigation into them.

In honoring Adams Kellum at a LAHSA Commission meeting last month, Greuel
said she had asked Adams Kellum to apply for the LAHSA job.

“I think I [followed] you at events to tackle you to say, ‘Would you
apply?’ ” Greuel said of Adams Kellum at the April 21 LAHSA Commission
meeting. It was the first meeting after Adams Kellum announced she would
be leaving in August, after county supervisors voted to pull county
funding from LAHSA.

Bass’ family has known Adams Kellum for years. Bass’ daughter, Yvette
Lechuga, started working for Adams Kellum at St. Joseph Center during the coronavirus pandemic, according to the L.A. Times.

Adams Kellum was an advisor for the mayor’s transition in late 2022, and
early in her administration Bass directed LAHSA to hire Adams Kellum as a $10,000-per-week consultant to the mayor on the Inside Safe program —
which Adams Kellum helped design — ahead of Adams Kellum becoming LAHSA’s
CEO.

In a statement last month about Adams Kellum’s plan to leave LAHSA, Bass praised Adams Kellum’s “leadership and bold vision.”

‘Perfect shield for political responsibility’
LAHSA’s relationship with elected officials came up at a recent federal
court hearing before Judge David O. Carter.

He said the agency has protected elected officials from responsibility in
how billions of taxpayer dollars have been spent on homelessness.

Referring to LAHSA, the judge said: “It's a perfect shield for political responsibility.”

https://laist.com/news/housing-homelessness/whistleblowers-homeless- official-misconduct

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