Tribune Watchdog: South Austin Pastor Lives Lavishly While West Side Project Languishes

By David Jackson and Gary Marx
Chicago Tribune
October 19, 2013

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/watchdog/ct-south-austin-pastor-promo-20131018,0,3680536.story

West Side pastor John Abercrombie says his mission is to lift a struggling community and serve its most vulnerable residents.

In addition to tending his church flock, he has made himself a key player in City Hall's planning and development efforts in the South Austin neighborhood.

City, state and federal agencies have poured millions of dollars into several projects in which Abercrombie played a leading role.

Yet a Tribune investigation found that Abercrombie has at best a mixed record of success as a developer and landlord, mirroring city officials' haphazard efforts to assist one of the city's hardest-hit neighborhoods.

The fast-food restaurant he built went out of business. He has racked up government liens for unpaid tax and water bills. And while Abercrombie lives in a suburban mansion and drives luxury vehicles, some tenants in his string of apartment buildings have endured substandard conditions and gone without heat.

Finally, in an as-yet-unreported scandal, a civil lawsuit accuses Abercrombie of covering for a top aide who allegedly raped or molested several young girls from his Truth & Deliverance International Ministries church.