THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 29, 1994 TAG: 9410290209
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TONI WHITT AND TONY WHARTON, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Long : 190 lines
The board of the housing authority, dismantled a year ago for inefficiency and neglect of duty, is once again the target of several City Council members.
A frustrated faction, led by Vice Mayor Arthur L. Dwyer, is threatening to remove the authority's new board and considering whether to do away with the independent agency.
The council members' chief complaint, they say, is that commissioners for the Chesapeake Redevelopment and Housing Authority violated state law by voting recently in a secret ballot to renew the contract of their attorney, John E. Zydron.
Councilman Robert T. Nance said Friday that he intends to push to get permission from the General Assembly to allow the council to dissolve the authority and transfer its low-income housing programs to a city department.
The authority, which handles $6 million in state and federal funds annually, also is involved in a dispute over rent for its former offices and faces an investigation by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The federal agency still rates the authority as ``troubled'' but noted a dramatic improvement over the past year.
Its investigators are coming to Chesapeake next week to audit records and meet with city and housing authority officials over a disputed $60,000 administrative fee authorized by the former board.
The dispute involves money paid when the authority purchased 11 acres in 1991 and 1992 for its Campostella Square project. Although the contract called for $60,000 an acre, the authority paid $65,000.
The additional money was used ``to cover maintenance, liability insurance and the cost of employees working on Campostella Square,'' said Amy Lassiter, the housing authority's program manager.
If HUD rules that the $60,000 was used for ineligible expenses, the federal agency will ask that the city repay that money, Dwyer said.
Not all council members are convinced that they should get involved again in the housing authority's affairs.
``I have no reason at this time to interfere based on the information I've received,'' said Mayor William E. Ward.
But Dwyer and other council members behind last year's ouster of the previous commissioners already are warning of another purge.
The renewal of Zydron's contract and the way it was done spurred them to action.
``If they do hold on to Zydron,'' Dwyer said Friday, ``I'd ask for a report on whether we have grounds to remove them.''
Dwyer said the council's move to take over the housing authority is not aimed at the new commissioners.
``It's not because we don't like authority members and we think they made bad decisions,'' Dwyer said.
On Sept. 27, the new housing commissioners discussed several bids for legal services in a proper, closed-door, session.
When they returned to the public session, the chairman passed out strips of paper and conducted a secret ballot.
Two of the commissioners took the ballots out of the room to count them, returning with a 5-4 decision to rehire Zydron.
The lawyer was not present during either the closed meeting or the vote.
Section 2.1, Chapter 343 of the 1993 Virginia State Code states: ``Voting by secret or written ballot in an open meeting shall be a violation of this chapter.''
City Attorney Ronald S. Hallman sent a copy of this section to the authority after their vote.
It was an innocent mistake, several commissioners said.
``We never asked, and we were never told about how to (vote),'' said Authority Chairman Walter W. Berry.
He said the commission had also voted secretly on Zydron's contract at a previous meeting, but it had ended in a 4-4 tie. No one had told them that vote might be illegal either, he said.
Friday, Dwyer sent a letter to Berry opposing Zydron's reappointment.
``Many feel that the vote and the manner in which it was taken could qualify as misconduct as contemplated in the removal provisions of the Virginia Code,'' Dwyer warned.
He noted that when the City Council had removed the previous board of commissioners in September 1993, Zydron had been a ``central figure in that controversy.''
The lawyer, Dwyer said, ``participated in and, in fact, established many of the questionable practices that caused much consternation by our citizens, and his legal advice proved faulty on several occasions.''
Dwyer urged the authority to reevaluate the bids for its legal work.
Last year, the council charged the authority's board with inefficiency, neglect of duty, and misconduct in office after the board allowed its former chairman, H. Scott Hardison, to resign and take over as the housing authority's acting executive director.
Zydron defended that decision with federal housing officials, who ruled the move a conflict of interest and threatened to stop funding authority programs.
``One of the reasons I'm so adamant about them not reappointing Zydron is that he was their legal counsel then,'' Dwyer said. ``He had HUD getting ready to take us to court (over Hardison's appointment as executive director) and he took HUD to court. There have been so many errors in judgment on his part that the city can't afford to have Zydron representing our interests.''
Councilman Peter P. Duda said Friday that unless the present commissioners agree to take a public vote on Zyrdon he will consider removing them from office as well.
``If we have to do what we did last year, I'll do it,'' Duda said. ``I'm not going to play games. I'm not going to jeopardize people losing housing because of some unethical things going on.''
Chairman Berry said he is writing a letter to the state attorney general asking for his interpretation of state law on the vote.
William H. Cherry, a recently appointed commissioner, said, ``If the guidance comes down that we did it incorrectly, we will rectify it, I can tell you that. We understand that possibly we erred in the way we voted. It was not done maliciously, but more to not hurt people's feelings.''
Don Harrison, spokesman for the attorney general's office, said Friday that the matter should be handled by the city attorney or the commonwealth's attorney.
``The city attorney doesn't have to ask us for an opinion,'' he said. ``He's the person who's supposed to make those calls.''
Hallman declined to give an interpretation Friday. He said he was willing to let the housing authority try to get an opinion from the attorney general's office.
Councilman Joe Newman said, ``I'd like to see us do something about that authority. We've got to provide a better service to those housing residents.''
Councilmen Alan P. Krasnoff, John M. de Triquet and John E. Allen all said they didn't know enough to comment about the secret ballot or the proposal to have the General Assembly disband the authority, which would allow the city to take over state and federal housing programs and grants. Councilman John Butt could not be reached for comment.
Ward urged the authority ``to vote in the sunshine,'' adding, ``I don't think it's a repeat of what happened last year. I think that the present commission is working actively to bring stability and credibility to the housing authority.''
Nance, though, said he thinks it may be more efficient to provide housing services directly from a city department than through the authority.
At Nance's request, Hallman has drawn up a proposed bill for the General Assembly which would give the council the power to dissolve the authority. The bill states that if the council feels the city can better carry out the authority's purposes, it can dissolve the authority by a two-thirds vote.
``We'll be able to get the money faster to the folks who need it the most,'' Nance said.
Ward, however, said he believes that ``in most situations public housing is best managed by an independent authority. The manager has enough to keep him very busy.''
The commissioners said they already have provided better services, pointing first to a HUD rating of the agency. Last year HUD gave the authority a score of 38.8 out of a possible 100 points for its work. Officials said anything below a score of 60 indicates that the authority is ``troubled.'' In July, when the authority received its latest rating, it was 58.9.
``Quite frankly I think the current batch of commissioners are moving the authority in the direction we should be going in,'' Berry said. ``There is no major conspiracy or dealings here. If we've made a mistake it was purely honest.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Chesapeake City Council members say commissioners for the city's
Redevelopment and Housing Authority violated state law by voting
recently in a secret ballot to renew the contract of their attorney,
John E. Zydron, above.
RECENT TROUBLES AT THE AUTHORITY:
July 14, 1993 - U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
officials warn that the housing authority has violated
conflict-of-interest rules by hiring one of its own commissioners as
an acting executive director.
Sept. 16 - After nearly four weeks of hearings, the City Council
votes 8-1 to remove the housing authority's entire board of
commissioners for inefficiency, neglect of duty and misconduct in
office. The allegations relate to travel spending, payment of those
travel bills, and the continued employment of the acting executive
director.
Sept. 24 - U.S. District Judge Rebecca Smith upholds the
firings.
Sept. 27 - City Council appoints nine new commissioners to the
housing authority.
Nov. 1 - City Attorney Ronald S. Hallman files an ethics
complaint with the Virginia State Bar about John E. Zydron, the
authority's attorney. (The complaint is still under investigation.)
Jan. 21, 1994 - City Manager James W. Rein demands the authority
explain how it spent a $60,000 payment as part of land deals in
Campostella Square. Federal housing officials consider forcing
repayment of the money.
March 8 - H. Scott Hardison, the acting executive director,
resigns.
April 18 - Edmund Carrera becomes the authority's new director.
Sept. 27 - By secret ballot, commissioners renew Zydron's
contract as the authority's legal counsel.
KEYWORDS: CHESAPEAKE REDEVELOPMENT AND HOUSING AUTHORITY by CNB