Diego Pena-Lopez, with Casa Alitas, helping to set up a makeshift Tucson migrant shelter in December 2018.
The county confirmed after The New Republic first reported Thursday that Amado Laundry Service is owned by Irene A.G. Piña, the mother of former Casa Alitas director Diego Piña Lopez, who left his position in the spring.
County Administrator Jan Lesher first notified the County Board of Supervisors of a procurement issue with Catholic Community Services, who runs Casa Alitas in May of this year.
Lesher said the migrant services provider self-reported that one of its employees had a familial conflict of interest when procuring laundry services in 2023 and that they took immediate action to discipline the employees involved. The county confirmed that other employee involved was former Catholic Community Services operations director Teresa Cavendish.
A May 17 memo from Lesher said the laundry service provider was working without a contract, which is in violation of County and federal procurement rules.
That memo also had a statement from CCS Chief Executive Officer Elena Dwyre, which said the vendor overcharged them and that two employees had violated our conflict of interest and purchasing policies and those employee relationships were quickly terminated as was the contractor relationship.
The New Republic’s investigation said that an anonymous source shared documents saying the laundry company had been overcharging the federally funded nonprofit by at least $200,000.
A Thursday memo from Lesher, which was in response to the New Republic’s reporting, said the county believes the incident was an error on the part of CCS, and that while the conflict of interest associated with the procurement of the laundry services was troubling, their response was appropriate and reassuring.
Lesher said the county did a review of Catholic Community Services and didn’t find any similar issues. As well, the county attorney is reviewing the issue for any potential legal issues.
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