Chairman of Uniontown Redevelopment Authority resigns
After more than 17 years on the Uniontown Redevelopment Authority, John Oris has resigned.
The handwritten letter was short and to the point, dated Monday and appearing at Mayor Ed Fike’s office Tuesday.
“This letter is to inform you that I, John Oris, am tendering my resignation the the R.A.C.U. board of directors. As of Wednesday, April 30th, I will no longer be affiliated with the R.A.C.U. I have enjoyed my time and wish only the best and God Bless to those who follow,” Oris wrote.
Fike said the resignation took him by surprise.
“I hate to see John leave, because I think he did a good job. He was always there in the interest of the redevelopment authority and of all of us,” Fike said.
“I just thought I’d been there long enough, maybe too long,” Oris said of his resignation.
“And things weren’t going quite the way I would have liked to have seen them.”
This is the second major change for the redevelopment authority this year.
Executive director Mark Yauger resigned in February to become executive director of the Fayette County Housing Authority.
Mark Rafail was hired to fill the vacancy at the end of March, though he is continuing to host a daily radio talk show on WMBS in Uniontown through the end of June because of contractual obligations.
During the month without an executive director, the redevelopment authority was notified that the state Department of Transportation was taking back a $1 million grant for improvements on Morgantown Street because certain deadlines were not met.
The annual audit also showed some business practices that needed to be changed, though no wrongdoing was indicated.
“You have to follow the letter of the law, do things on the up-and-up, be straight with everything and you can’t go wrong,” Oris said.
Oris said that during the interview process he was led to believe that Rafail would be quitting his radio talk show immediately if offered the executive director’s job, putting Rafail to the front of the applicants. Oris said Rafail was the top pick of the selection committee.
“We just have philosophical differences. I don’t see how you can take off in the middle of the day and have things run smoothly,” Oris said.
Rafail said the board knew he would be continuing his radio show through June and that he is putting in the required hours on the job for the authority.
“That’s why they have me on probation. That way, they can see if I can do the job,” Rafail said.
“I’m doing the job and putting in the hours I need to work.”
Rafail has already submitted an application for a competitive grant to replace the grant lost for Morgantown Street.
Prior to Rafail’s hiring, there had been rumors that the board members had been threatened with dissolution of the board if Rafail wasn’t hired, though Oris said that wasn’t his reason for resigning, because Rafail had been the front-runner.
“We were threatened, yes. I imagine that without me there, they will have their way now,” Oris said.
“That would be City Hall. They did say they wanted to take us over.”
Oris said he never received the takeover threat directly, but heard it through a third party.
Fike said he didn’t participate in the hiring process in any way, or threaten a city takeover of the authority.
“I didn’t put any pressure on anybody. I know Mark Rafail, but I know a lot of people better than him. We’re not even from the same (political) party,” Fike said.
“I went to Mark Yauger and asked if he thought Mark Rafail could do the job, and if not, if he was trainable, and he said yes to both.”
Fike said he never discussed disbanding the redevelopment authority, though he was surprised at the length of time it took to fill the executive director’s position.
“There may have been something said that if something wasn’t done right away, we’d be on the hunt for another grant. If it (the hiring process) was still going on, and they hadn’t moved on, we would have to take steps,” Fike said.
While the city does have the power to dissolve the authority, it is a lengthy process that can only be taken if all of its contracts, debts and obligations have been met under state law.
In addition, there are some functions of the redevelopment authority that can only be carried out by either a city or county redevelopment authority, such as condemnations by eminent domain for redevelopment projects.
It now will be up to Fike to name a new member to the board, with the board reorganizing to establish its new officers.