Forgery Allegations Subject of U.S. Probe : Inquiry: The accusations involve a former official of an agency planning to set up a homeless center in San Pedro. Residents oppose the shelter on Navy surplus land.

The federal Department of Health and Human Services is looking into allegations of forgery against a recently resigned official of an organization planning to set up a controversial homeless center on surplus Navy property in San Pedro.

Rayford Kytle, a spokesman for the department, said Tuesday that officials in Washington will respond to inquiries from local officials about the alleged forgery and the qualifications of Turner’s Technical Institute Inc.

Fearing that Turner’s Institute--the proposed operator of a center housing up to 600 people on a 27-acre site on Taper Avenue--lacks the credentials to do the job, San Pedro residents have been fighting the planned shelter for weeks.

Dr. James A. Mays, a cardiologist who was asked to support the project, now says that Johnathon C. Marzet, the former assistant director of the institute, forged the doctor’s name on a letter of endorsement sent to the Department of Health and Human Services last year.

Mays said he later signed a different letter endorsing the institute’s application. But Mays said that after learning of the forgery and concluding that the institute is incapable of running the project, he has withdrawn his support.

No one from the institute could be reached for comment Tuesday.

In a letter released Monday, Marzet said he was resigning as treasurer, assistant director and board member of the institute “due to personal reasons and alleged unethical behavior on my part, beyond my control.”

He acknowledged false claims of college degrees, admitting that he never graduated from high school.

In January, officials from Health and Human Services approved the institute’s application to open a shelter in 144 apartment units on Taper Avenue under the auspices of the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act.

The legislation, which gives homeless advocacy groups priority on federal lands declared surplus, has caused an uproar in the harbor community because it does not allow for public input.

Protest meetings have attracted crowds of more than 1,000 residents, virtually all of whom have been strongly opposed to the plan to house and educate homeless families.

The accusations against Marzet reinforce “exactly what people thought after the first meeting when representatives from Turner’s appeared and didn’t have any answers to our questions,” said Barbara Ferraro, vice chairwoman of the San Pedro Area Reuse Committee.

Mays said that when “all hell broke loose” in the San Pedro community, he advised Marzet to look for an alternative site because the community had some justifiable concerns about the impact on the neighborhood.

Mays said he now believes that the institute is incapable of running the program because Marzet tried to “become an expert overnight.”

“Some of (the institute’s) participants (at the public meetings) were not longtime involved with TTI. They were just a response team put together, rather than working with people who were experienced with the homeless,” Mays said.

“After the first meeting, it seems Marzet found some ‘expert’ people,” the doctor said. “There was no real team prior to the crisis (with the community).”

Turner’s experience is limited to running a small training school in Compton and some welfare housing in South-Central, Mays said.

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The doctor, who said he has extensive experience with programs for the homeless, estimated that the Taper Avenue program would cost $3 million to $5 million per year, far exceeding the $500,000 to $700,000 Marzet claimed it would cost at meetings with San Pedro residents.

The Health and Human Services Department has been criticized by several officials--including Los Angeles City Councilman Rudy Svorinich Jr., who represents San Pedro, and San Diego Mayor Susan Golding--for giving the institute the site without checking the information in its application.

“The folks at HHS just don’t seem to delve into these things in any detail,” said Barry Glickman, a spokesman for Svorinich. “It’s not required (under the act) and they don’t have much time . . . so why bother?”

Golding, who headed the California Military Base Reuse Task Force that reported to Gov. Pete Wilson, said the task force recommended giving communities the power to choose options for surplus federal land because they were more likely than the federal government to ensure the credibility of plans.

“It’s unconscionable that homeless providers can go directly to the federal government and undermine the whole community’s reuse plan, and this is a perfect example of what happens,” Golding said.