DATE: Saturday, August 2, 1997              TAG: 9708020293

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY KATRICE FRANKLIN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: SUFFOLK                           LENGTH:  125 lines

HOUSING DIRECTOR RIDES OUT ROUGH TIMES SHE'S BEEN WORKING IN SUFFOLK FOR A YEAR.

Every morning at 4 o'clock Clarissa E. McAdoo starts her day with Bible reading and prayer.

That completed, McAdoo breathes a sigh of relief that she has the armor and power to deal with whatever challenges come her way as director of the Suffolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority.

She then spends two hours planning her day - which typically lasts until 7:30 p.m., with a one-hour break for lunch with her husband.

Each Saturday, she spends about six hours at work. And on Sundays, she sets aside another four hours, bringing her total to anywhere between 70 and 85 hours each week.

``The year has been physically grueling,'' McAdoo said in a recent interview.

Her early-morning ritual, she said, has been her primary source of support.

There have plenty of rough times:

Three months after McAdoo took over, a group of white employees sent anonymous letters to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Mayor Thomas G. Underwood and the media, claiming that they were being excluded from meetings and being ignored for promotions. McAdoo denied the charges.

Four months later, a temporary employee alleged in a letter that the housing authority puts whites in top positions even though many African-American workers are better qualified. That letter also went to HUD.

The same month, a Suffolk landlord and lawyer filed a lawsuit alleging that the agency pays different rents, based on race, for tenants in the same building. The matter is in court.

And at each meeting of the agency's commissioners, McAdoo faces tough questions on issues ranging from the budget to the condition of public housing units.

This week, as she marks her one-year anniversary at the housing agency, McAdoo admits that the role has been far more difficult than she had imagined.

Nor is there promise that the future will be any rosier.

The Board of Commissioners, seven residents appointed by the City Council to oversee the housing authority, will give McAdoo her evaluation at its Aug. 12 meeting. Most would not speak about McAdoo, except to say that comments will be made after her evaluation.

Chairman John H. Kindred gives her an A.

``I certainly hope the board would see what Clarissa has done and that a positive attitude would help her, not a negative one.'' But he added, ``Almost the majority is negative.''

The board's attitude has been hardest for McAdoo to deal with, she said. Her hiring was by a narrow vote.

``It's obvious that there are feelings that they had prior to my coming,'' she said. ``Some of them did not participate in the hiring process . . .

``I understand them being reluctant in the beginning . . . but to be at this point - and I've achieved quite a bit - that is very much a low.''

Despite the bumpy road, McAdoo said she does not regret coming to Suffolk from the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority, where she was manager of development operations.

She was happy there and wasn't looking ``to give up that big office, which offered peace and tranquility when I looked at the Elizabeth River.'' But she thought the move to Suffolk would be a good career move.

She knew her job wouldn't be easy. She was taking over an authority with a troubled history and tarnished image. Four years before, the agency was accused of mismanaging a rental-rehabilitation housing program financed by federal grants, and it was just starting to repay money that the government demanded.

A city housing study in the same year had identified high concentrations of deteriorated housing in seven Suffolk neighborhoods. And the agency and the city government had not been on the best of terms.

In the midst of it all, McAdoo believes she's done a good job.

``I feel pretty good about all those things we've said we wanted to happen,'' McAdoo said.

``We've enhanced communication with the city. That was our top priority.''

McAdoo said she's proud of a number of other accomplishments:

Most news articles before she came were negative. Now ``I get feedback from Washington and Richmond. Everybody is saying we're doing great.''

HUD was close to labeling the authority a ``troubled housing authority'' a few years ago. But Bill Burnham, public affairs officer for HUD, said there has been ``vast improvement'' since the previous director, Jim Armstrong, and McAdoo took over.

For the first time, the authority is working with the city to redevelop Orlando, a small neighborhood near downtown. The city allocated about $390,000 in community development grant funds to the housing authority to help with the project.

Leroy Bennett, one of the agency's council liaisons, said McAdoo is ``doing an excellent job. She has good support from the council.''

City Manager Myles E. Standish said he's pleased that the housing authority is now active in redevelopment activities.

No matter how well others may perceive the authority, McAdoo said the board's treatment stays in her mind.

While some board members seem to favor McAdoo, others throw out harsh questions at her. From meeting to meeting, their unity varies.

``I'm questioned about the budget to the last penny or unit,'' McAdoo said. ``I have people who ask me how I sit there and take it.

``The community is certainly aware of the animosity. I can't allow myself to get wrapped up in it.''

McAdoo said that many things have disturbed her but that she is in no position to address every issue.

When she arrived at the authority, she held a retreat for commissioners, hoping it would help them to work together and communicate better.

It was also to help them establish goals and to understand their roles. The director should manage, McAdoo said. The board should set goals and govern. It was the first retreat in the board's 25-year history.

Shortly after the meeting, the commissioners voted unanimously to be the lead agency to rehabilitate the Professional Building - one of two city high-rises in downtown Suffolk - without consulting McAdoo and without identifying it as a goal during the retreat.

The Suffolk Civic Forum, citizens from across the city who meet monthly to discuss city issues, criticized the board on its next meeting, saying the board showed disrespect to McAdoo by voting before discussing it with her.

McAdoo said the board still tries to micro-manage, something that some agency employees also have criticized the director for because all media questions must be funneled through her.

``I have no idea how the evaluation will go, but I feel good about what I've been able to accomplish with the staff in such a short time,'' McAdoo said. ``It's an exciting time for the city.

``I want to take the housing authority and move it right in sync with the city,'' she continued. ``We can be progressive with 466 units and a staff of 37.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

``I've achieved quite a bit,'' Clarissa E. McAdoo says. KEYWORDS: PROFILE

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