The Baltimore Housing Authority is spending more than $12,000 in tax dollars for newspaper ads today that respond to a series in The Sun detailing mismanagement of a program that spent more than $25.6 million to repair public housing.
The three ads, which appear in separate sections of today's paper, republish the official response Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke issued in defense of the program Sunday.
The Sun published the mayor's statement in its entirety yesterday, and the statement accompanied the second of three stories about the authority's emergency-repair program.
"In a nutshell, we're protecting our customer base, as would any major corporation, and our right to fairness," said Housing Authority spokesman Zack Germroth.
"We feel the articles have been extremely unfair. It's our effort to give balance back to the public."
The ads cost about $4,100 each. The money is coming from the authority's advertising and operations budget, Mr. Germroth said.
"We are considering running it throughout the week, or we may just pull it in a day or two," Mr. Germroth said.
In his statement, the mayor said most of the 65 homes federal auditors inspected in reviewing the program "showed that the contractors had performed their work properly."
In a report released last fall, however, auditors concluded that each of those homes was beset by shoddy workmanship or cost overruns.