Commissioners discuss housing authority controversy
Fayette County Commissioner Sean M. Cavanagh invokes the name of jailed former Executive Director John Marra when assessing the latest nepotism-related controversy involving the Fayette County Housing Authority. “This just puts the FCHA back to where it was,” said Cavanagh. “John Marra got pounded for doing these types of things. (Current Executive Director) Tom Harkless earned all of his lumps on this.”
Cavanagh said that while he’s had no quibbles to date with Harkless, whom the commissioner describes as a “smart man,” he nonetheless thinks Harkless acted inappropriately in the authority’s business dealings with two firms that employed his relatives.
Those firms – Niche Networks Inc. of Herndon, Va., and Chestnut Ridge Communications Services Inc. of Blairsville – received nearly $100,000 of housing authority computer and telephone system work. Harkless’ wife’s niece worked for Niche Networks and his brother-in-law was the authority’s main contact with Chestnut Ridge.
Acting on a request from board member Angela M. Zimmerlink, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development looked into the matter and determined that the authority’s procurement policy and federal regulations were violated.
“Without a doubt, it was inappropriate to give contracts to your relatives,” said Cavanagh. “Tom Harkless makes well over $100,000 a year (in salary), he’s very educated and he’s a smart man. But let me tell you, if I were giving contracts to relatives or hiring my family members, they’d run me up a flagpole and burn me at the stake. I’d be eaten alive by the media.
“I think that Tom Harkless owes some explanations. After all that we’ve been through with the housing authority, the executive director and the board members have to be beyond reproach … There’s right and there’s wrong, and absolutely Tom Harkless was in the wrong. I want an explanation,” concluded Cavanagh.
Commissioner Ronald M. Nehls said he’s contacted Harkless, who is agreeable to meeting with the commissioners to discuss the matter. “He said he’d be happy to meet, (and) invite the (housing authority) board of directors and staff, to bring us up to speed on what the situation is all about,” said Nehls.
During his conversation with Harkless, Nehls said that he mentioned some of his preliminary concerns, including Nehls’ supposition that “someone (in Harkless’ position) would be smart enough to recuse himself” from any contractual matter that hinted of impropriety.
“He said, ‘Well, I think I did,'” noted Nehls. “Those are the things I need to find out more about. I haven’t read the (newspaper articles) yet, I didn’t get a chance to read them, to know what it’s all about. (But) from what I understand, there are some people who did some work for the housing authority that is questionable … It appears that somebody has done something wrong, but I want to find out from HUD what the regulations are, so that I’ll be more informed about it.”
Nehls said that while he’s adopting a wait-and-see attitude, his main concern is to make sure the housing authority does not fall back into any of the bad habits that earned it a black eye during the Marra era.
“It appears to this point that we’ve done a magnificent job in overcoming some things that were happening before,” said Nehls. “(But) if the housing authority is indeed falling backwards … we can’t allow it to take a backward step. I don’t know that for sure yet.”
Nehls said that he’s eager to get to the bottom of the situation, one way or the other. If the authority is taking a backward step, Nehls said, “By golly, nip it in the bud. If it’s wrong, nip it in the bud now.”
But if the situation isn’t as bad as it’s been portrayed, Nehls also favors clearing the air in the authority’s and Harkless’ favor. “If incorrect information’s out there, nip it in the bud, too,” he said.
Harkless did not return a call seeking comment. However, in an interview that took place before HUD issued its written opinion, Harkless said he authorized the bulk of the computer work as an “emergency” after Niche told him the authority’s computer server was vulnerable to penetration from outside sources.
Harkless also said the monetary bulk of the telephone work given to Chestnut Ridge was competitively bid. He noted that other amounts were paid to the firm because the authority wanted to make sure that telephone system upgrades at its satellite offices were compatible with the new system. At one point, Harkless authored an internal memorandum recusing himself from dealing with Chestnut Ridge because of the family connection.
Regardless of those explanations, Cavanagh said that Harkless’ actions involving apparent conflicts of interest have eroded his and the public’s confidence in the authority. Cavanagh also said that he’d to hear more about the situation from the three board members who haven’t spoken publicly: Chairman Kenneth L. Johnson, the Rev. Howard E. Dantzler Sr. and Beverly Beal.
“(This) hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil ain’t going to cut it,” said Cavanagh. “I’d like to know where the other board members are (on this issue). I’m disappointed (by their silence).”
Commission Chairman Vincent A. Vicites said he thinks the housing authority board should take steps to make sure that it enforces existing policy and closes any existing loopholes regarding conflicts of interest.
“I don’t condone it. I think it was wrong,” said Vicites of the business dealings involving Harkless’ relatives. “And I think that the board being the policy-makers needs to tighten up. And if they have a policy in place, they need to tighten it up even further. They need to make sure that something like this doesn’t happen again – and if it does, (that) there will be ultimate consequences.”
Within state civil service guidelines, Vicites said he thinks the board should look now and in the future at taking “disciplinary action” when such situations arise. However, he doesn’t agree that the housing authority has drifted backward.
“Do I think the housing authority’s back to where it was before, under the former (Marra) tenure? I don’t think so,” said Vicites. “I think they’ve made good forward progress. But I think they need to correct the problem and get back to the focus of what their mission is. The long-term vision (for public housing) is what the focus has to be.”