Ramsey County Commissioner Blake Huffman resigned Wednesday after an inquiry by county officials found potential conflicts of interest in a real estate deal between a controversial nonprofit he founded and one of his sons.

Journey Home Minnesota, whose mission was to provide affordable homes for military veterans, battered women and ill children, sold a New Brighton house it had purchased with federal grant money to Huffman’s son in July 2018, according to a Tuesday letter to U.S. officials from Deputy County Manager Johanna Berg. The review also found that another of Huffman’s sons acted as a real estate agent in the transaction.

“Although I no longer have an official role with Journey Home, I was in charge when these mistakes were made and I take accountability for them,” Huffman said in his resignation letter to the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners.

Huffman, who was elected to the commission in 2012 representing northern Ramsey County, plans to remain in his seat until June 1, the letter said.

A former Wells Fargo Home Mortgage executive who sought the Republican nomination for governor in 2018, Huffman said in his resignation letter that this also marks his retirement from politics.

Huffman did not return a voicemail message seeking comment.

A special election will be held to fill Huffman’s seat on the commission until the current term expires in 2020, according to a news release issued Wednesday night by Chairman Jim McDonough.

“We commit to complete transparency throughout this process, beginning with discussion and action at our board meeting on Tuesday, May 14, 2019,” McDonough said in the news release. “At that meeting, the board will vote on appointments to fill committee assignments Commissioner Huffman currently holds and will take up other business related to the resignation.”

Reached by phone late Wednesday, McDonough said the board did not ask Huffman to resign.

Journey Home was involuntarily dissolved in March, according to the Minnesota Secretary of State’s website. However, the organization’s website remains online and was still accepting donations through a PayPal account as of Wednesday night.

Huffman’s ties to Journey Home first came under scrutiny by county officials in January, when the Pioneer Press and Star Tribune reported that Huffman was in the process of shuttering the nonprofit.

The Pioneer Press report detailed a string of complaints against Journey Home to the Minnesota attorney general’s office. The organization also owed more than $9,000 in taxes on numerous properties and faced liens of around $162,000 for unpaid labor and materials.

Despite these issues, Huffman estimated that the nonprofit had placed its tenants in safe and affordable homes for 23,000 nights.

As it was winding down, Journey Home sold several of its rental properties, including one in New Brighton that it had purchased with a Community Development Block Grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which was awarded by Ramsey County before Huffman was elected in 2012.

Huffman’s son Zach Huffman was the buyer, while a second son, Alex Huffman, was the real estate agent who handled the transaction, according to Berg’s letter to HUD officials. The county hired an outside law firm to conduct a review of the deal.

“We have concluded that Journey Home’s use of Commissioner Huffman’s son as a real estate agent and its sale of the New Brighton property to another son may constitute a conflict of interest,” the letter said, in part.

“In addition to its disclosure to HUD of these findings, Ramsey County will take steps to recover the grant funds from Journey Home,” the letter continued.

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“I think the letter speaks for itself,” he said.

Huffman’s 1st District includes Arden Hills, Gem Lake, North Oaks, Shoreview, Vadnais Heights, White Bear Township and parts of Mounds View, Spring Lake Park and Blaine.