Audit Faulted Cuomo's HUD Overhaul - WSJ

The idea behind the program was to split enforcement and customer relations into separate ranks of employees. Between 1997 and 1999, Mr. Cuomo recruited nearly 800 Community Builders, including hundreds of high-paid "fellows" who underwent training sessions at Harvard.

The Community Builders acted as liaisons to city officials and community groups and reported directly to HUD's headquarters in Washington.

In 1999, the program was the subject of a scathing audit report by the HUD Inspector General's office, which recommended that it be

terminated.
Congress eliminated its funding that year, over the objections of several Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. John Kerry and now-Vice President Joe Biden.
More than half of the Community Builders interviewed by the auditors said they spent most of their time on

public-relations activities.
"Considering that 228 Community Builders came from HUD's monitoring side, there is an appearance HUD favors the outreach and public relations over the monitoring and compliance function," the report said.