The fired executive director of the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority steered government contracts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars apiece to former colleagues and business associates, a WHRO investigation revealed.
Simms awarded those no-bid contracts — often for consulting that one former employee said were unnecessary and duplicated previous work — without the typical public solicitation that nearly all government contracts go through and without the NRHA board’s knowledge.
Instead, Simms pushed NRHA staff to violate state law, U.S. Housing and Urban Development policies and the authority’s own procurement rules by issuing non-competitive contracts the agency’s own policies say are only permitted in emergency situations where life, limb or property are at immediate risk…