The new Los Angeles County public agency will raise an estimated $400 million per year in taxpayer money to fund low-income housing developments across the county.
Ryan Johnson, interim CEO of Los Angeles County’s Affordable Housing Solutions Agency, is tasked with spending these dollars to ultimately dent the area’s ruthless homeless crisis.
Johnson was selected from 28 applicants in September. Agency board member – La Mayor Karen Bass, all five county supervisors, other local elected officials and leaders of nonprofits, touted Johnson for bringing a fresh perspective. His resume set out his histories of finance, capital markets, real estate development and investment throughout his career, mainly spent outside of government.
However, interviews with board members and past employers raised concerns about the screening that led to Johnson’s background and work as interim head.
Johnson said in his final job as Founder and CEO of Flam Square Capital, he acquired 2,600 apartment units and converted them from market rates to affordable housing within 14 months. After the Times raised questions about these transactions, an external consultant who handled the Lacasa CEO search said it had not investigated individual transactions, but that was beyond liability. And, citing his confidentiality agreement with investors, Johnson himself does not provide any specific information about the transaction.
In Fulham’s previous work, Johnson worked as vice president of a Bay Area nonprofit housing developer, where for five months he said he helped save the company from bankruptcy. A spokesman for the company disputed the claim, saying it was never exposed to economic risks.
Before moving to California, Johnson worked as vice president of a nonprofit investor in South Carolina. Johnson said it has grown its assets from $5 million to $220 million for more than 15 months. However, nonprofit tax forms show a much smaller increase. Johnson explained the contradiction, saying that some of the transactions are joint ventures with other company’s book assets.
In an interview in late March, Johnson said he plans to be with a “long-distance” agency. Less than two weeks later, he announced that he would not pursue Lacasa’s permanent CEO position when his one-year contract expires this fall. Johnson said he wanted to go back to the private sector to take care of sick families.
The decision means that Lacasa will embark on a second national search for the CEO two years later, making the agency uneasy, just getting off the ground.
Miguel Santana, president and CEO of the California Community Foundation and vice-chairman of the Lacasa Committee, said the need to find another leader and questions about Johnson’s background checks should overhaul the hiring process.
Lacahsa has paid up to $175,000 over two years to lead the interim and permanent CEO search for executive search for Illinois-based Kees Alford. The company said it used industry standards and conducted appropriate searches.
Santana said agents should consider signing up with a new consultant.
“The partners we are involved in supporting our choices must undergo a thorough review of the experiences listed on our resume,” Santana said.
Lacahsa receives more than a third of the $1.1 billion raised annually from the county voters approved in November and an increase in sales tax that came into effect in April. The agency, established through state law in 2022, is set to create affordable housing by funding new low-income developments and paying to convert market-rate properties.
Advocates said new agencies were needed to make housing decisions that would benefit the entire region, rather than relying on fragmented funds from the county’s 88 cities.
“We need innovative, entrepreneurial CEOs who are ready to address the region’s most complex challenges and find solutions that will bring out the results. At Ryan Johnson, Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson, Lacasa’s board chair, said in a September news release announcing Johnson’s employment.
Johnson’s salary is $245,000.
Ten years before he began in Lacasa, Johnson embraced eight jobs, including the company he started. He averaged under 18 months in each role. Johnson said work changes would be needed to climb the real estate industry ladder.
“My whole job stands out,” said Johnson, 42.
Bob Simpson, a former executive at mortgage giant Fannie May, chose Johnson for the advisory board of nonprofits across the country that aims to increase private capital for affordable housing. Simpson said Johnson put together an ingenious fundraising program when he was with the Greenville Housing Fund, a nonprofit in South Carolina.
“I’ve always been impressed by the thought process he brings and how he approaches some pretty tough problems,” Simpson said.
Simpson said he was unfamiliar with the details of Johnson’s latest work.
In June 2023, Johnson launched Flam Square Capital, an investment company that owns and operates affordable homes, according to his resume. He said the company left the office in a WeWork collaborative work space in West Hollywood.
Fulham has raised more than $120 million in shares from sovereign wealth funds and other investors, acquired more than $350 million in distressed assets from lenders, and acquired and remodeled more than 2,600 units from market rates into mixed and low-income and low-income housing. He said the company operates in five states: Arizona, Nevada, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.
During the interview, Johnson said he would provide it, asking for a list of Fulham’s listings. However, on April 3rd, 10 days later, and the same day he announced his departure, Johnson said his investors would not allow him to disclose information about the transaction.
“Investors want to keep it private,” Johnson said. “It’s part of the responsibility to raise private capital.”
Legal experts said it’s normal time for real estate companies to protect investors. Still, they said there is no prohibition on disclosure of basic information about their transactions, noting that private companies and local governments often publish their low-income housing efforts.
Deepika Sharma, director of Housing Law and Policy Clinic at USC’s Gould School of Law, said:
Interviews and public records raise questions about Johnson’s records in previous positions.
From September 2023 to January 2024, Johnson worked for Community Housing Opportunities Corp., a non-profit developer based in Fairfield, California. He said on his resume that he restructured the $20 million company’s debts to avoid bankruptcy.
Developer spokesman Leeza Hoyt said the company was not at risk of bankruptcy, and said Johnson had only worked there for a short time.
Johnson asserted that he helped him maintain solid solvent. He shared an email from his time at Community Housing Opportunities Corp. This shows efforts to hamper financial difficulties with planned Coachella Valley housing developments for low-income people.
“The company is not going to say, ‘We’re in bad condition,'” Johnson said. “They are never going to admit it.”
Hoyt acknowledged that the project has fundraising challenges, but said they have been resolved. Today, development is built and fully leased, she said.
“Ryan Johnson says a lot,” Whitt said. The developers wouldn’t offer Johnson a job again, she added.
Before working in the Bay Area, Johnson served as vice president of capital markets and real estate for the Greenville Housing Fund from April 2022 to June 2023.
Lacasa spokesman Stephanie Graves said board members were impressed with Johnson’s efforts to use a $31 million contract to acquire and renovate the 212-unit apartment building and a $31 million deal.
Johnson said on his resume that he did more than that. Johnson said it has increased the company’s assets from $5 million to $220 million. Lacasa’s news release detailing Johnson’s background repeats the claims, but growth was between $5 million and $247 million.
The nonprofit’s tax form shows that its total assets increased far less than Johnson said, increasing from $12 million at the beginning of 2022 to $81 million at the end of 2023.
Johnson said his high-end figures include a joint venture where the fund is a small investor.
“Other partners will bring a large portion of that to their balance sheet,” he said.
Johnson said his low-end $5 million number could be an error.
“The accident may have put the wrong number in that particular example,” he said.
Johnson said Brian Brown, CEO of the Greenville Housing Fund, is a reference to Lacasa’s position. The Times were unable to reach Brown due to comments.
When I first contacted The Times, Johnson requested that he be interviewed in collaboration with Richardson, Mayor of Long Beach and the chairman of the Lacasa Committee. Richardson said he is confident in vetting the interim CEO role, noting that the agency has signed a contract with outside search company Keith.
“Keith did the complete process of reference checking,” Richardson said.
Kees CEO Heather Eddy said the company relies on industry standard methods, including talks with references, to review Johnson’s background and employment eligibility and assess performance in previous jobs. She said she had not seen the individual transactions that Flam Square Capital had made.
“The terms of Ryan’s employment had abandoned his leadership role at Flam Square Capital,” Eddie said. “It is not a customary practice to verify private companies’ transactions through background checks.”
Eddie said her company would support the job.
“We have implemented a robust process of bringing a strong pool of candidates to the board and making decisions,” Eddie said. “I believe Johnson is a good fit for this position.”
Richardson did not respond to a request for a follow-up interview after Johnson refused to disclose the Flam Square Capital transaction.
Tenant advocate and Lacasa board member Zelita Jones said she was not worried about Johnson’s performance as CEO and he was responding to her requests. However, she said questions about his resume would lead her to evaluate him with extra scrutiny.
“I’m on alert,” Jones said. “I’m going to see it.”
Other Lacahsa board members contacted by The Times – Bass, LA City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson and county supervisor Lindsey Horvath were either denied or did not respond to requests for comment. Supervisor Holly Mitchell and LA Councillor Nitya Raman provided statements that did not address Johnson’s background or employment process, and instead spoke in general about the need for accountability for Lacasa and the homeless program.
Bellflower City Council member Victor Sanchez was a board member of Lacasa, who led the agency’s ad hoc search committee and defended the choice.
“Through the interview process, we asked a wide range of questions to try and understand how each candidate can maximize Lacasa’s tools and roles, as important as his past experiences,” Sanchez said. “In the end, this decision was unanimous.”
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