PARIS — Fire Chief Brad Frost has been cited for being the catalyst in a federal investigation into the Maine State Housing Authority’s oversight of Section 8 housing.
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins said in a statement her request for the probe came after Frost wrote to her to report serious safety violations in units that receive federal payments under the Section 8 program.
At Tuesday’s meeting of the Board of Selectmen, Selectman Robert Kirchherr called Frost’s work “outstanding service to the community.”
Frost said Wednesday that he couldn’t remember if the letter and photos he sent to Collins’ office came before or after a story in the Advertiser-Democrat on Section 8 housing. That article won the George Polk Award and was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize.
Frost said the issue had been on his mind a long time.
The Advertiser-Democrat story led to a Maine State Housing investigation of Oxford Hills apartments in October 2011. A federal audit by the Housing and Urban Development inspector general began about two months later.
Collins is planning to meet with Frost soon, Kirchherr said.
Frost said he was concerned that taxpayer dollars were paying for unsafe apartments.
“We don’t have any ordinances in town where we can do inspections,” Frost said, but responding to fire calls gave him access. While responding, he noticed several violations, largely electrical. Many upper-floor apartments didn’t have fire escapes, either.
Frost said he notified the landlords first, but too often they took no actions. He said he wrote to Collins in frustration after seeing too many building owners ignore him. He said anyone in his position would have done the same.
“I think they’re playing it up too big,” he said with a laugh.
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