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Lansing's Development Office: incompetent, corrupt or both?

July 15, 2022

In my July 10 story I told how building contractor Scott Frederickson destroyed Tammie Arend's house in the process of installing a new roof. The project was arranged by the City of Lansing's Development Office through a Homeowner's Rehabilitation program financed in part with a $10,000 HUD grant. When she applied for the program in April 2018, Tammie was told that four contractors would submit bids on the project, but she only saw the one from Frederickson. The date he wrote next to his signature on the Proposal and Contract is May 4, but the first time he came to Tammie's house was May 7, which means he submitted his proposal without examining the house. May 4 at 11:00 a.m. is also when the project was to open for bidding, according to this letter. This means the other three contractors were not given the opportunity to bid. When she came to the Development Office to sign the Proposal and Contract on May 9, Frederickson wasn't present, but had already filled out his part. This is what Tammie said in 2020 about Frederickson's May 7 visit:

The roof was replaced at the end of May 2018, but it wasn't until September that a build up of rain water burst through the ceiling and flooded several rooms. City inspector Dennis Graham came the day after the flood and was appalled at the quality of work. He found that flashing and calking around the main chimney was missing and the caulking around the front fireplace chimney was done poorly. He doubted if the roof was properly vented.

Frederickson fixed the leak, but the damage was done. Floors, ceilings and walls were wet and moldy and the humidity was off the charts. This was the point at which Development Office personnel should have descended on Tammie's home, done a full assessment of the damages and made it clear to Frederickson that he had to restore the home to its prior condition at his own expense and replace any furnishings damaged by the water, moisture and mold. And they should have made sure housing was provided for Tammie and her pets until all that was done.

That didn't happen. When she next talked to Dennis Graham, he said he'd been assured that the problems were corrected. His boss, Development Manager Donald Kulhanek, told him to let it be.

Tammie is disabled, receiving social security disability and SSI totaling $803 a month. She could not afford to make repairs herself or to rent another place to live. Tammie was vocal about her situation, making repeated calls to Frederickson, the Development Office, and local politicians and by making numerous social media posts.

She took out a $30,000 mortgage to pay off the $2,900 not covered by the HUD grant, to pay some bills and pay for repairs. Still, much work remained to be done and the moisture and mold continued even though she kept the windows open and ran humidifiers and fans. As Graham suspected, the high humidity was because the roof was not properly vented. She struggled with her situation through the winter without hearing anything further from Frederickson and the Development Office, all the while complaining about her situation to anyone who might care. It was not until November 19, 2019 that Development Manager Donald Kulhanek and Rehabilitation Specialists James Bennett and Steve Guel showed up to do an inspection. Bennett wrote a report of the inspection and Kulhanek sent her a letter dated December 19, 2019. There are issues with his letter:

• He says that Dennis Graham did an inspection before the roof was replaced. However, they can't seem to find the report of that inspection. Peter Spadafore, the city council president in 2021, acknowledged in his March 29, 2021 response to my appeal of a FOIA denial that the inspection was done, but said the report does not exist. He apparently did not ask why it does not exist. Could the reason be that it would show that the home was in good condition before the roof replacement? Tammie told me in 2020 that in

• He says Tammie signed a document on May 30 indicating she was satisfied with the quality of the workmanship. Tammie claims she signed it but did not date it. She was told she'd be asked to date it when the work was finished, and it was not finished by May 30, the date apparently written in by someone other than Tammie. And it really wouldn't matter if work seemed satisfactory on May 30 if accumulated water from a leak did not burst through the ceiling until September.

• He says Frederickson was unable to find a leak. That is a lie. Frederickson did indeed find a leak. He came on September 26th and saw that the ceiling, walls and floors were soaked. The cause was inadequate caulking around the two chimneys, and he fixed it.

• He says they didn't hear any more about the project until October 2019. The last time Tammie talked to Dennis Graham was October 25, 2018. After that, he would not return her calls and neither would anyone else in the Development Office. She even tried using a borrowed phone and giving a false name. She got through to Kulhanek, but when she told him who she was, he said he was in a meeting and would call back. He did so, but turned the phone over to Barb Kimmel, who told her that they were not going to do anything for her because she'd filed a complaint with LARA and her warranty was no longer valid. Kimmel told her they were done with her and hung up.
  
  The statement that the warranty was no longer valid was another lie. The one-year warranty period had passed at that point, but Tammie reported the defects in workmanship loud and clear in September 2018.

• Finally, he says that Bennett found no substantial evidence of a leak after the re-roofing was completed. That is just ludicrous. The roof may not have been leaking at the time of the December 19, 2019 inspection, but there was no question that it was leaking on September 24, 2018, when water burst through the ceiling and flooded the place. Here's Tammie's Facebook post on that day:

And although they found no signs of current leaking, they knew there was something wrong from the high interior moisture level and the smell of mold. The air was so bad that the men had to step out from time to time for fresh air. That was not mentioned in Bennett's report. We know this only because of an account written by Tammie's Facebook friend Melissa Huber, who witnessed the inspection. In her account, she refers to Kulhanek as the tall gentleman in a suit and to Guel as the one on Carhartts. Here are some excerpts from Melissa's account:

.......

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It is clear from Melissa's account that the purpose of the visit was not to do a thorough, objective inspection but to prepare a report to shield the City and the contractor from responsibility.

(Kulhanek retired in July 2021 and Barb Kimmel took over as Development Manager.)

In June 2020, she received a letter from Heather Sumner of the City Attorney's office saying that since she had retained counsel, all future communications regarding her issue should be directed to the Office of City Attorney. Tammie emailed Heather Sumner on June 29, 2020 denying she'd retained counsel:

 

All I have asked for since DAY ONE was help to get out of this house because no one should be left to where no matter what the weather was outside the windows have to be left open 24 hours a day. . . All I want is help so I don't have to live like this, I have not had a shower in 2 yrs now, I have no furniture in my home that can be used, I have been sleeping on the floor all this time and have only one office chair that has been given me this year to sit in, I have lost everything because of the mistakes and what seem to be deliberate actions from the people the contractor brought in to do the work.

She received a reply from Heather on July 8 in which she was told that "Based on our analysis of the facts and the law, the situation you have described is a personal, private legal matter and the City of Lansing has no liability associated with your claims." It was not a personal, private legal matter. It was a City program and it was the responsibility of the City to make sure the contractor corrected any defects in workmanship.

On February 13, 2020 Tammie and Loretta Stanaway met with Mark Lawrence, Citizen Advocate, Mayor's office. Loretta had arranged the meeting to ask for help with remediating the mold issues to make the house livable. Loretta suggested some solutions, but Lawrence indicated he would have to check to see if any of them could be done without making the City liable. He stated if they did as she suggested, it would be an admission of guilt. Loretta suggested Tammie could sign a liability waiver but Lawrence said he didn't think that would be sufficient and he would have to check with the lawyers. Tammie mentioned getting an attorney, but not to go after the City financially. Lawrence stated that the City would be representing the contractor because he was their contractor. He said he would set up an appointment with the Human Relations Department; they would contact her. She never heard from Lawrence or the Human Relations Department. Tammie recorded the conversation, but can't find the recording.

After months of trying to set up a meeting with HUD and the City, U.S. Representative Elissa Slotkin's office was ready to give up. In a 3/2/2021 email, Slotkin's constituent services director told Tammie:

It has now been nearly four years since Tammie's house was flooded and she is still living with the mess. The City has failed to use its power to force Frederickson to restore the home and has denied any responsibility. Tammie's heath has been damaged by the constant humidity and mold and quite possibly by carbon monoxide from a blocked chimney that prevents proper venting of her furnace and water heater - blocked by trash placed there by the contractor's crew. She has retained a lawyer and has filed a lawsuit against Frederickson which may not be heard for months.

A lawsuit should not have been necessary. The Development Office should have insisted in September 2018 that Frederickson either restore the home or pay her enough to buy another. They should have told him that if he did not do so, he would never do business with the City again - or with Ingham County or Michigan or anywhere in the Midwest. Instead, they continue to use him for other projects (see building permits issued in May 2021.) Is this incompetence or corruption or both? Where is Mayor Andy Schor? Where is the city council?

Previous stories on Tammie's situation:

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