DATE: Wednesday, September 17, 1997         TAG: 9709170488

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B12  EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LOUIS HANSEN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: SUFFOLK                           LENGTH:   44 lines

HOUSING AUTHORITY LEADER IN SUFFOLK GETS 3.5% RAISE

After weeks of delay in appraising the leader of the Redevelopment and Housing Authority, the Board of Commissioners Tuesday night approved a 3.5 percent raise for executive director Clarissa E. McAdoo.

The seven-member Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to grant McAdoo a $2,000 raise on her $57,500 annual salary, linked to her performance during her first year on the job.

``It's a vote of support,'' said chairman John H. Kindred. ``Everybody voted yes'' to the raise.

McAdoo declined to comment on the review, which was conducted in an hourlong executive session.

Her appraisal was scheduled for Aug. 12, but several commissioners who had been openly critical of the director had not completed written reviews.

By Tuesday night, all of the written evaluations had been completed, Kindred said.

``She's made progress that no others in the city have ever been able to make,'' he said.

McAdoo has served as executive director of the Suffolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority since August 1996. The agency has a $3 million budget, 37 employees and oversees 466 public housing units.

The housing authority has had a rocky history in Suffolk. In 1992, the agency was accused of mismanaging a rental rehabilitation housing program financed by the federal government.

During McAdoo's tenure, a few department employees sent anonymous, racially charged letters to the media, and federal and local officials. A group of white employees sent claims that they were being excluded from meetings and passed over for promotions. McAdoo denied the charges.

Four months later, a black temporary employee alleged that whites won promotions over more qualified black candidates.

The agency has also undertaken the lead on a rehabilitation project in the Orlando neighborhood in downtown Suffolk. The housing authority has set aside $600,000 for improving the neighborhood. ILLUSTRATION: Executive Director Clarissa E. McAdoo gets ``a vote of

support'' from the Board of Commissioners. KEYWORDS: SUFFOLK REDEVELOPMENT AND HOUSING AUTHORITY

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu