Milwaukee families with lead-poisoned children may not have gotten money they were eligible for to clean up their homes.
It's new out of City Hall Monday. A former lead program manager, Rich Gaeta, wants his job back after he was fired for a number of violations- including violating lawful and reasonable regulation.
In his appeal hearing, Angela Hagy, who briefly oversaw Gaeta, said she discovered Gata started some practices in the health department that weren't legal. Gaeta was fired from the health department by former commissioner Patricia McManus.
Before his termination, Gaeta oversaw distribution of Federal Housing and Urban Development grant funding. In Monday's hearing, Hagy revealed under Gaeta's supervision Milwaukee families who should have been eligible for help with that money didn't receive it.
"[The department] even rejected people if the home wasn't clean enough. If the person had a criminal record, stuff that would even violate fair housing rules. It was just excessive," Hagy said under oath.
She is now the Director of Disease Control and Environmental Health for the City.
HUD issued warnings to the City in 2008, 2012 and in 2017 Milwaukee's Health Department received three HUD Fail letters.