Housing authority member supports suspension for director
Fayette County Housing Authority board member Beverly Beal thinks that Executive Director Thomas L. Harkless should be suspended in the aftermath of a federal ruling that the authority must repay $108,000. And board member Angela M. Zimmerlink, who brought the questionable business dealings to the attention of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development nearly a year ago, says that instead of paying a Pittsburgh attorney at least $6,000 to investigate the appropriateness of her actions, the authority should focus on taking actual wrongdoing more seriously.
In particular, Zimmerlink said that board chairman Kenneth L. Johnson continues to downplay the culpability of Executive Director Thomas L. Harkless in the authority’s improper award of contracts and business to two firms that employed Harkless’ relatives.
“His (Johnson’s) recent statement that the HUD findings ‘are not a big thing’ continues to amaze me,” says Zimmerlink. “Ken’s always been of the opinion that these HUD audits and findings are not of any concern to him. He said that during an executive session … His ongoing cavalier attitude, and that of other board members at that time, is one of the reasons I contacted HUD in the first place. Here we are, a year and thousands of dollars later, and Ken still has that same cavalier attitude.”
Johnson did not return a call Monday seeking comment.
Beal, however, says the five-member board should discipline Harkless, an experienced public housing administrator who was hired to right the ship in the troublesome post-John Marra era. Beal says that Harkless’ actions warrant a suspension, particularly when he’s set that standard by slapping a one-month unpaid suspension on finance director Sonya Over for alleged nonperformance.
Harkless had recommended firing Over, but only Johnson supported that move. After Harkless subsequently used his administrative power to suspend her for a month, Beal and Zimmerlink were the only board members to vote for a reversal of that punishment.
Beal says that Harkless should expect no less of a sanction than the one he meted out to a subordinate for something far less tangible.
“I feel that there should be a suspension (of Harkless) on the board’s part,” says Beal. “I think what he did was a slap in the face to the board, especially since the board has been very good to him.
“This is a serious thing. He should have known better. He had to have known very well what he was doing. I think so.”
Beal says that when they interviewed Harkless prior to hiring him in late 1999, Johnson and she heavily stressed that they wanted everything done up front and by the book, in the wake of the mismanagement scandal that had rocked the authority and eventually sent former executive director Marra to prison.
At that time Johnson praised Harkless as “one of the best possible candidates,” largely on the strength of 27 years of public housing experience, including 14 years as executive director of the Lancaster Housing Authority and 3.5 years with the Chicago Housing Authority.
Now, says Beal, she has lost confidence in Harkless because of the contracting misdeeds verified by HUD, coupled with the fact that she previously uncovered his use of an authority vehicle for personal vacation trips.
“They tell us not to get involved in everyday business, but how can the board not get into everyday business? I can’t trust his word anymore,” says Beal, who adds that the authority has “most definitely” suffered another black eye. “But you know who I feel sorry for? The employees. It’s hard on them. They went through it with John (Marra) and now they’re going through it again.”
In a June 10 letter, HUD official James D. Cassidy concluded that the authority must repay $85,951 paid to Chestnut Ridge Communications and $21,885 paid to Niche Networks. Cassidy noted several violations of HUD and federal requirements in the way the authority selected and did business with both firms – including the fact that a “prohibited apparent conflict of interest” existed.
Zimmerlink says that the board and Harkless have enough FCHA policies and HUD manuals at their disposal to realize the gravity of what occurred. She, too, favors some type of disciplinary action and furthermore isn’t buying Harkless’ explanation.
“Tom has said in the past, and he’s still saying it, that he just made an honest mistake. There’s no way that anyone is going to look at me with a straight face and say, ‘It was a mistake; let’s move on,'” says Zimmerlink. “Tom and the board, all of us, are fully aware of the guidelines.”
Zimmerlink also says that she intends to question what role, if any, that the David & Davis law firm that serves as authority solicitor had in reviewing business dealings with the two companies. “When you look at our (payment) invoices, they’re certainly playing some role,” she says.
And although the recent HUD ruling has already been placed on the June 26 meeting agenda as an executive session item, Zimmerlink says that she’ll push for a public airing of any discussion regarding the HUD findings.
“There’s too much sweeping stuff under the carpet and talking behind closed doors (at the authority),” says Zimmerlink. “The only thing that’s going to be discussed in that executive session related to this is personnel issues and potential litigation problems. The repayment and everything else about these findings is going to be discussed in public.
“Whenever I go in there, if they start talking about it (in executive session), then the attorney that’s sitting in there had better speak up.”
Cassidy mandated that the authority repay the $108,000 from nonfederal funds, which Beal and Zimmerlink say may be very hard to accomplish since the authority’s main source of such income is its State Housing Program.
Zimmerlink said the State Program, which covers 100 housing units in four locations, generates a net income of only $16,000 per year, based on projections from the authority’s 2003-04 operating budget.
Given the fact that Cassidy essentially supported her position regarding the questionable contracts, Zimmerlink says it’s lamentable that the authority spent at least $8,000 of taxpayer money with the Cohen & Grigsby law firm of Pittsburgh defending its position. She said that figure doesn’t include the $6,000 or so paid to that legal firm for work pertaining to her bringing the Harkless matter to HUD’s attention.
“They said that by me contacting HUD, I breached my fiduciary duties because my doing so was detrimental to the housing authority as a whole and to the tenants,” says Zimmerlink. “I have no regrets. I’ll do it again. I’ll continue to carry on my role as a board member. But I hope I never have to do it again.”
Zimmerlink says that with the HUD assessment in hand, the housing board needs to take the matter seriously and take whatever actions are necessary to restore public confidence in the operation.
“What the current board members do is going to be a reflection on the current county commissioners. They’re the ones who appointed us all,” says Zimmerlink. “I hope that (the board members) step up to the plate and carry out their role. And I hope that the newest member (James V. Bitonti) doesn’t say, ‘I wasn’t there at the time.’ You’re there now. What are you going to do about it?
“And Nancy (Sutton) had better educate herself, and not think that she can abstain. There should be no doubt in the minds of the board members what their role and responsibility is. They have the same information as I have.”
Fayette County Commissioner Sean M. Cavanagh, at one time the authority’s chief critic, declined comment on the current situation, noting, “I really don’t have too much to say.”
Commissioner Ronald M. Nehls says that Cassidy’s determination proves that previously stated concerns were legitimate. “We need to take it all seriously. We need to take it to the next step and correct it. That’s the big issue. Hopefully, we’ve got the right board members on there to correct it,” says Nehls.
Commission Chairman Vincent A. Vicites did not return a call seeking comment. Bitonti and Sutton also failed to return calls.