January 1996:
Kimber is convicted of stealing an elderly woman's funeral money while he was managing a funeral home. DeStefano, who appears as a character witness at trial, arranges for Kimber to continue receiving city money for the Division Street project. Kimber resigns as president of the not-for-profit corporation, but becomes a "consultant."
July 1996
The Rev. Boise Kimber has, for the second time, quit his post with a Newhallville development corporation amid scandal.
Kimber's ally John DeStefano set him up at the Hazel Street Development Corp. a few years back in order to steer him hundreds of thousands of federal dollars to build new houses. DeStefano gave Kimber a lot full of decrepit houses that, under the policy of DeStefano's Livable City Initiative, should have normally been cleared to make room for a park or community center or parking lot.
Kimber had to quit that post two years ago, after a court found him guilty of stealing an elderly woman's funeral money. (DeStefano tried to avert the verdict by testifying on behalf of Kimber's character.) To help the mayor save face, Kimber resigned his post as Hazel Street's president.
But the pair worked out a sly deal. Kimber became a consultant to the Hazel Street group -- while his brother-in-law nominally presided over the group. Kimber continued to collect tens of thousands of dollars a year (up to nearly $52,000 a year by this spring) for barely documented work.
Now the FBI is looking into Kimber's work as part of its investigation of DeStefano administration corruption.
Kimber was finally prevailed upon to resign late last week, as his prefab homes started going up on the lot. Will he really be gone this time?