DATE: Sunday, November 2, 1997              TAG: 9711020123

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MATTHEW DOLAN, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  114 lines

A HARD JOB TO HANDLE 2 HOUSING AUTHORITIES GRAPPLE WITH LEADERSHIP ISSUES

The housing authorities in Chesapeake and Suffolk are similar; maybe too similar.

In little more than a year, both hired new executive directors amid great expectations that the once-troubled agencies would be given new vitality. Too quickly, those directors faced recalcitrant staffs and wary, often intrusive, boards of commissioners.

While Suffolk overcame staff and board members' complaints and reaffirmed support for Executive Director Clarissa E. McAdoo, Chesapeake fired Douglas Falkner six months into his job as executive director. He filed suit against the authority Thursday for $16.5 million in damages.

So what is it that either makes good leaders so hard to find in those organizations, or makes it so hard for good leaders to do their jobs?

``When cities have a troubled agency, it can be a revolving door,'' said MaryAnn Russ, who was until recently deputy assistant secretary for public and assistant housing operations for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. ``Lots of good people are fired for wanting to do the right thing. It's often a pretty thankless job, and they have an enormous amount of responsibility.''

Other local and state housing officials said internal politics of entrenched employees and external partisan political pressures may cause some of the problems. In Chesapeake and Suffolk, for example, employees both took their complaints about the executive director's performance to the board.

``I have done the job the board asked me to do,'' Falkner said in an interview immediately following his Sept. 29 dismissal. ``And now they are listening to employees and job candidates over their executive director? They are supposed to report to me, and I am supposed to report to the board. How could this have happened?''

In Portsmouth, Norfolk, Chesapeake and Suffolk, each housing authority's board of commissioners is appointed by the city council. Virginia Beach does not have an authority.

But those boards, meeting about once a month, then select an executive director, who oversees day-to-day operations and staff hiring.

Norfolk and Portsmouth, with large staffs and budgets, have stayed away from recent leadership controversies, delving deep into community development work that has changed the face of those aging cities.

``I think you have to gain the trust of your staff and your board first,'' said David Rice, executive director of the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority. ``And I won't say that politics won't be a big piece of it.''

But Chesapeake and Suffolk, two of the fastest-growing cities in the state, have had more difficulty in keeping their authorities running smoothly.

The Chesapeake authority, which oversees housing for 2,100 clients, faced poor ratings from HUD until recently, making the city ineligible for certain federal funds. A political scandal over board expenses and hiring practices led the Chesapeake City Council to fire the entire board of commissioners in 1995.

It has also had five executive directors in less than three years.

But Falkner, who arrived at the Chesapeake Redevelopment and Housing Authority in March, received initial praise from his board of commissioners for a wealth of housing experience and take-charge vision. His storybook rise from growing up in public housing to running an authority seemed to be the right fit for an authority on the upswing, board members said at the time.

Six months later, it ended bitterly when Falkner was abruptly served his walking papers after allegations of sexual harassment and racial discrimination. The board is still searching for his permanent replacement.

Though the entire board of commissioners was replaced by the city council in 1995, Falkner has said he still found numerous irregularities in the authority's recent accounting. According to the lawsuit he filed this week, his efforts as executive director saved $8.5 million and made 400 residents newly eligible for housing assistance.

Several local housing officials said there can be a great tension between the board and the executive director, often caused by a failure of each to understand the roles and responsibilities of the other.

``I am living this,'' Suffolk's McAdoo said of the strain.

McAdoo said both sides of the authority - the board and the director - overstep their bounds when they don't understand their roles. Her agency has a $3 million budget and 37 employees, and oversees 466 public housing units.

A board of commissioners ``needs to understand how it all works together, and they often need to be educated about that and stay up with current training . . . but they should not be involved in the day-to-day operation.''

Sometimes the board has little knowledge about the workings of the housing authority. At the recent housing authority meeting in Chesapeake, a commissioner who has been on the board for several years asked the staff to explain a Section 8 certificate, the cornerstone housing program for subsidized rent.

Some board members in Suffolk said the authority's managerial problems have begun to dissipate.

``Some of our board are not as comfortable with (McAdoo) as I would like them to be,'' said the Rev. John H. Kindred, Suffolk's housing authority chairman. ``There were four of us involved in the selection process, although everyone could have been. After process was done, they agreed to work with her, but there have been some problems.''

Those problems have included allegations of racism against both whites and blacks. Commissioners have showered her with tough questions at meetings and a majority, according to Kindred, had negative reviews at her first anniversary on the job in August.

``But I think we have a better relationship now,'' Kindred said, citing McAdoo's strong relationship with the city and leadership in Suffolk's rehabilitation project in the downtown Orlando neighborhood.

These two housing authorities in South Hampton Roads are not alone, state and local officials said.

The position of executive director is not an easy one, state and national housing officials agree.

``Sometimes when directors leave, they leave just before getting fired. . . Russ, who has 29 years of experience in housing issues. ``And either way, sometimes politicians would rather see the housing authority moribund than active.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos

Douglas Falkner

Filed a $16.5 million suit against the Chesapeake housing authority.

Clarissa McAdoo, Suffolk housing director

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