Meet William "Hoe" Brown

William "Hoe" Brown is a slumlord. Hoe, as his friends call him, is also a Republican fundraiser. The Hoe Man has has contributed to the Orwellian named Save Our Homes and Rachel Burgin's Florida House campaign.

Mr. Hoe was the chairman Hillsborough County's Homeless Recovery program. HCHR was looking to house homeless people. Mr. Hoe Down had the money making idea of housing the homeless in his slum properties. Kill two birds with one stone and make some extra cash. This went on for 16 years.

TAMPA — The manager of Hillsborough County’s Homeless Recovery Program resigned Monday after it was disclosed the department paid more than $625,000 to Republican fund raiser William “Hoe” Brown to house clients in substandard apartments.

One of Brown's properties homeless people were referred to was a crack den in Seminole Heights.

The hotel has been ticketed by code enforcement officers 14 times in the past 10 years. Ctations ranged from derelict cars to apartments with no smoke detectors. Code officers described the hotel as a deteriorated structure.

Homeless Recovery claims they never received complaints or knowingly referred homeless people to Brown's slum properties. Emails show that is a lie.

The rent for one resident, Sharmel Troupe, and her boyfriend came to $388 for a three-week stay in a bug-infested corner of a converted garage. The couple bought caulk to combat the bugs. In interviews with the Times, managers said the agency does not refer clients to specific properties. And they insisted they had never gotten a complaint about Brown's rental properties. Neither was true, according to hundreds of emails the Times examined.

Brown and County Administrator Mike Merrill have resigned. Merrill's role in the scandal is being investigated. Don't expect charges to be filed against Brown or Merrill. That is not how things or done in Florida politics.