Housing board member disputes account of HUD officials’ comments
Fayette County Housing Authority board member Angela M. Zimmerlink said Tuesday that federal housing official James Cassidy never made comments attributed to him by board Chairman Kenneth L. Johnson. Cassidy is a top official in the Pittsburgh office of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Last week Johnson said that Cassidy’s reference to a “rogue” board member at the authority who may have overstepped the boundary of that position was the reason the authority paid for legal research into the duties of a board member.
“I did contact Jim Cassidy … and asked him if the statements made by Ken Johnson were correct,” said Zimmerlink. “Jim Cassidy said back to me, ‘Absolutely not, and thank you for asking.’ Jim Cassidy is stating that he did not, in any way, shape or form … make that comment.”
Johnson said that he’d have no further comment on the matter, per the advice of Cohen & Grigsby lawyer Michael Syme. “The lawyer told me to be quiet about this,” said Johnson. He added that while Cassidy never mentioned names in a meeting that included Johnson, Syme and FCHA Executive Director Thomas L. Harkless, hypothetical scenarios were used as examples.
“He didn’t mention names, but he said, ‘If a board member is doing this” it could result in that, said Johnson.
Johnson also said that the “rogue” reference to Zimmerlink “was in a letter that I received.” While he didn’t specify the author of that letter, Zimmerlink said she knew the genesis of the comment.
After the meeting, Zimmerlink showed the media a hard copy of an e-mail from Syme to Harkless, in which Syme made mention of a “rogue” board member at the housing authority. Syme wouldn’t elaborate on the situation.
“I can’t confirm or deny any privileged communication that I have with my client,” said Syme, who attended Tuesday morning’s meeting but was asked about the e-mail by telephone in the afternoon.
Zimmerlink had questioned why the authority paid Syme’s employer, Cohen & Grigsby, $1,300 to research the law concerning the fiduciary duty of a housing authority board member – a sum that included legal work related to possibly taking action against any board member who breaches that duty.
Although Syme wrote a six-page legal opinion on the aforementioned matter, which was discussed in executive session Tuesday, he told Johnson, “It was for the board” when Johnson asked if the document could be made public.
In a post-meeting discussion, Syme said that his research concluded that an authority board member’s primary duty is to the authority as a public agency – not to HUD, which he described as primarily a funding source.
He further stated that board members should take their concerns to the board first and work through that channel to solve problems, rather than going to HUD and requesting an investigation that could result in the authority having to repay funds from nonfederal sources, thus harming the authority.
“A board member has a duty to the authority, period,” said Syme. “If you make phone calls to HUD inviting an investigation, you put the authority at risk … That’s a fact.”
Zimmerlink said that she followed the board-first prescription outlined by Syme, but became frustrated when it appeared to go nowhere. She said that as a last resort she went to HUD requesting an investigation into the authority’s business dealings with two firms that employed relatives of Harkless.
Further, Zimmerlink said that while her name was generously sprinkled throughout Syme’s six-page legal opinion, he never contacted her on the matter. She added that legal opinions are as varied as the attorneys who write them.
“My name is throughout this … but you never spoke to me once,” said Zimmerlink. “I could go to the law firm that I work for and get eight (different) legal opinions.”
Zimmerlink added that during the executive session, it was suggested that the authority adopt a policy prohibiting board members from talking to reporters – a move that Zimmerlink squarely opposes but that she thinks is revealing about how some in the room prefer to do the public’s business.
Beal said that she would talk to anyone she wants. “I feel that any board member can contact whomever,” said Beal, who added that she’s always felt a high responsibility to taxpayers. “We’re all held responsible for our positions on this board.”
Zimmerlink said she couldn’t bring up several other matters she wanted to discuss because the files she wanted to review prior to Tuesday’s 9:30 a.m. meeting weren’t available to her when she arrived shortly after 8 a.m.
She said that stall-and-delay tactic was “typical” for what she’s had to deal with as a board member, noting that some of her information requests were eight months old.
Zimmerlink did, however, ask about a finding by consultant H.J. Financial concerning missing cash related to tenant rent payments. She asked what had been done between July and November, a period of four months, to resolve that problem.
Harkless, who earlier said, “I am not perfect. There are things that fall through the cracks,” added that this is one of those items. He said the authority will have to undertake some “personnel transactions” to rectify the missing cash problem.
Harkless later said that his terminology included the possibility of disciplinary action.