Helen Piloneo resigned to protest her treatment when she was suspended. The authority board has not acted on her request to have her job back.
By ROBERT FARLEY
Published February 26, 2004
After 23 years with the Pinellas County Housing Authority, executive director Helen Piloneo says she was hurt and humiliated the day a sheriff's deputy followed her to her office and escorted her out the building.
She and four other employees were suspended with pay Jan. 28 as the authority launched an investigation into allegations of misuse of funds and the creation of a hostile work environment.
Before she left that day, Piloneo fired off a two-sentence resignation letter.
Five days later, she thought better of it. She sent a letter to the authority board Feb. 2 asking it to rescind her resignation. She wanted to clear her name.
So far, the board hasn't acted on her request.
"From my client's perspective, we're extremely frustrated," said Cynthia Sass, Piloneo's attorney.
Piloneo said she was called into a board meeting Jan. 28 and curtly told she needed to leave the building, Sass said. Because she drives a company car, she had to call a friend to come pick her up. The first time Piloneo heard the nature of the allegations was from a television news report, Sass said.
Rick Gilmore, a lawyer for the authority's board of commissioners, said a sheriff's deputy was hired, but "to the best of my knowledge, (the five employees) were not escorted out."
The suspensions stemmed from complaints made by six authority employees who alleged, among other things, that Hispanic employees were given preferential treatment. The employees also alleged Housing and Urban Development funds earmarked for specific programs were used for different programs, Gilmore said. A summary of the allegations released by the housing authority does not specify how much money was alleged to have been misused.
There were no allegations of theft of funds, Gilmore said. The board has hired several consultants to investigate.
The employees were suspended, Gilmore said, "to signify to everyone that the integrity of the investigation was independent and beyond reproach."
Becky Steel, another of Piloneo's attorneys, declined to comment on the specifics of the allegations, but she said Piloneo plans to fully cooperate with the investigation.
The authority oversees public and Section 8 housing in Pinellas County, except for St. Petersburg and Clearwater.
At a meeting Feb. 13, a number of Piloneo supporters pleaded with the board to rescind her resignation.
At that meeting, Sass read a letter from Piloneo in which she states, "I reacted by resigning in protest at the way I was treated. After having a chance to think it over, I realized that I want the opportunity to respond to these allegations, to clear my name, and to have the opportunity to continue serving this organization, to which I have dedicated my life."
The board postponed a decision. And when Sass asked at a meeting Wednesday for the board to vote on her request, it again remained silent. Piloneo was making $141,649 when she resigned.
"The board has not chosen to act on it at this point," Gilmore said.
Two weeks ago, the authority board appointed Darrell Irions, executive director of the St. Petersburg Housing Authority, and Jacqueline Rivera, executive director of the Clearwater Housing Authority, to act as interim directors of the Pinellas authority. The two are married, as was noted publicly at Wednesday's meeting.
