Session sheds light on Fayette Housing Authority ‘mystery’
What had been a largely behind-the-scenes drama was flushed out into the open Thursday at the Fayette County Housing Authority meeting, which featured a long executive session and spirited public discussion regarding an employee disciplinary matter. Although no names were mentioned, it wasn’t hard to connect the dots: director of finance Sonya Over has filed a state civil service appeal of a one-day suspension doled out in January by Thomas L. Harkless, executive director.
Also, much to the disdain of board member Angela M. Zimmerlink, board chairman Kenneth L. Johnson recently met with Over to discuss her employee-performance appraisal, as worked up by Harkless.
Zimmerlink believes this flies in the face of the hands-off policy that Johnson and other board members have repeatedly espoused as the reason to leave all daily operations matters in Harkless’ control.
For his part, Johnson said he did nothing wrong and was only acceding to Over’s request that someone above Harkless review her evaluation. Johnson added that if Over’s grievance over her one-day suspension came up during their discussion, it was because she mentioned it.
As an offshoot of the simmering conflict, Zimmerlink invited Over to the board of director’s table to personally request that two vacant positions in her department be filled, so that she can comply with Harkless’ demand for more timely financial reports.
“I just spent the last three weeks working on a (new) budget. I’m only one person,” Over told the board. She added that her 3.5-person department needs another accountant and an accounting assistant to get back to full strength.
Over added that instead of relying on consultants who are paid between $85 and $165 per hour to assist her department, the work could get done cheaper and more responsibly by simply filling the two positions. She advocated getting a new consultant and using that firm only at crunch times, such as year-end closeout and budget development.
This direct appeal to the board, apparently sanctioned by at least some of its five members, clearly represented going over Harkless’ head on an administrative matter.
It seemed to stun Harkless, who at one point said, “May I participate at all here?”
Given his chance to speak by Johnson, Harkless said that he believes the finance department should be able to function properly only with an additional accounting assistant.
Harkless also made no secret of his belief that the department’s current level of performance is “unacceptable” and noted, “I’ve got some performance issues here that I’ve been trying to deal with.”
With the authority on the cusp of partnering with a private developer for an ambition makeover plan, Harkless pointed out a key shortcoming: he hasn’t received a financial report since September.
“You tell me, who wants to invest (with us) with that type of recording keeping?” he asked.
“I am going to insist that I get things I need to run this business.”
Zimmerlink, clearly siding with Over on this issue, said that before Harkless can make production demands, any roadblocks that exist because of staffing issues must be removed.
She said that she heard Over essentially saying, “You’re asking me to do something. I’m able to do it – but you can’t tie my hands.”
Board member Beverly Beal weighed in by noting, “What I’m saying is, if she needs help, let’s get her help.”
Harkless said he wants to get the matter resolved as much as anyone. But he stressed that as chief administrator he’s in the best position to assess department needs and employee performance.
“I can figure it out. That’s what you have me for,” said Harkless.
Shedding further light on the controversy, sources at the housing authority who request anonymity say that Over, as director of finance, has given information directly to board members, specifically Beal and Zimmerlink, at their request.
Those sources say that those actions may be at the root of some of the friction that’s developed, particularly since Harkless wants all information requests to go through him, even if they come from board members.
Over twice asked for a full board review of the disciplinary action taken against her, but was turned down on both occasions, sources say.
When a meeting with Johnson was offered, Over agreed to take that option since it was the only one available, sources add.
Over’s situation was also at the root of Zimmerlink’s proposal in February to reinstall the full board as a layer in the administrative employee grievance procedure. That motion died for lack of a second.
At the other end of the spectrum, some housing authority sources say that the finance department hasn’t lived up to the standards set by former controller Edward Mauk, an accounting whiz who provided monthly and very detailed financial reports.