Elliott said Greene was improperly using his position to solicit cash and personal gifts from PHA's employees, vendors, and law firms. PHA, Elliott said, hosts four parties a year in honor of Greene and asks for cash or checks for the executive director.
Kirk Dorn, a PHA spokesman, called the letter "incendiary." "It's an allegation made by one person," Dorn said. "PHA denies the allegations in the letter and is defending against them."
Richard A. Zappile, the PHA chief of police, said that he organizes four parties a year for top managers and attorneys who do contract work for the agency, and that participants, including Greene, pay their own way.
"They are privately run," Zappile said, "and the money goes toward the dinner."
Elliott outlined his allegations against Greene and PHA's board in a four-page letter dated April 21 that was sent to 12 people, including Gov. Rendell, former Mayor John F. Street, and Mayor Nutter. Rendell was chairman of PHA at the time of Greene's hiring. Street is the current chairman.
The letter only came to light in the wake of last week's disclosure of Greene's financial problems. Greene's personal bank, Wells Fargo, foreclosed in July on his mortgage on a $615,000 house, while the IRS placed a $52,000 lien on the house in December for unpaid taxes on non-PHA income.
Charges of sexual misconduct have shadowed Greene since his arrival in Philadelphia in 1998 from the Detroit Housing Commission.
In his former job, a housing-agency auditor accused Greene of kissing, touching, and fondling her, and promising her a promotion if she "submitted to his demands." Rendell, who as mayor at the time headed PHA, hired Greene and gave him a contract that ensured his job even if he lost the Michigan case. The case brought by Gertrude Faye Johnson was settled out of court on the eve of a trial.
