Federal officials allege Ferguson and co-defendants Michael Woodhouse, president of Ferguson-owned XCEL Construction Services Inc., and Calvin Hall, vice president of XCEL, collaborated in preparing and submitting a proposal for XCEL to obtain an $11.7 million contract to act as construction manager for the infrastructure installation phase of Garden View Estates.
After securing the contract in 2007, Ferguson allegedly steered the primary contract to award more than $9 million of demolition, earthwork and utilities work to Ferguson’s Enterprises. He is also accused of recruiting and directing two other Michigan business owners to submit false, inflated bids to ensure that Ferguson’s Enterprises’ bid was lowest for that subcontract.
Co-defendant Shakib Deria, 42, of Troy is charged along with Ferguson with conspiracy to violate the Bank Secrecy Act, by making 19 sequential withdrawals of $9,500 each in order to obtain $171,000 in cash from the bank account of another Ferguson company, A&F Environmental/Johnson Construction Services. Deria is a Ferguson's employee and the vice president of the joint-venture company.
Ferguson, a friend and ally of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, and Ferguson’s Enterprises are also accused of illegally dumping truckloads of excavated soil, construction debris and other materials from other construction projects at Garden View Estates. Federal officials also allegedly found two pistols in Ferguson’s office during a January 2009 search of his company.
Ferguson has a 2005 criminal conviction for assault with intent to do great bodily harm for pistol-whipping Kennedy Thomas, a former Ferguson’s Enterprises employee.
Dear Friends,
In November 2009, HAP applied for competitive grant funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD’s) HOPE VI program to implement a comprehensive redevelopment of our Hillsdale Terrace public housing property in Southwest Portland. While only six out of forty-four applications were awarded, we’re disappointed to learn that our application was not successful in this round of HOPE VI funding.
We remain committed to our plan to revitalize this distressed property. Hillsdale Terrace has always been on our top three priority list for redevelopment, so we plan to apply for HOPE VI funding in the next round later this year. We believe that the need at the property, our deep experience with the program, and our track record for delivering these projects will serve us well in the upcoming competition. In the next few weeks, we will have the opportunity to understand from HUD staff the areas we need to address to strengthen our application.
We thank our residents, community and public sector partners, and neighbors who joined with us in our application and plan to work with them again as we reapply.
Steve Rudman
Executive Director
Really, shouldn't St. Patty's just be a national holiday?The Housing Authority of Portland [HAP] has done a very good job with the HOPE VI public housing redevelopment at New Columbia and is moving forward swiftly with their second HOPE VI development , Humboldt Gardens.
Unfortunately not all HOPE VI programs have been as well planned and executed as those two HAP projects. (For example, the project I grew up in Detroit has had a HOPE VI grant for more decade and to my knowledge reconstruction has yet to start).
The Urban Institute Metropolitan Housing & Communities Policy Center recently published a series of HOPE VI related reports/briefs that took a look impacts and issues from a national perspective. [This was likely the result of a HUD contract].
It is important to note that the reports DID NOT include HOPE VI projects in Portland (or anyplace in the NW for that matter). The report studied results for 887 families in just 5 cities and in these developments: Ida B. Wells/ Madden Park Homes in Chicago, Ill.; Easter Hill in Richmond, Calif.; Shore Park/Shore Terrace in Atlantic City, N.J.; Few Gardens in Durham, N.C.; and East Capitol Dwellings in Washington.
