Housing officials are ousted

After a scandal, three Brooksville Housing Authority board members lose their posts.

By BARBARA BEHRENDT, Times Staff Writer
Published August 8, 2007

BROOKSVILLE - For nearly five hours, the City Council heard the horror stories of melted fixtures and outlets, red hot electric boxes and apartments where switching on the stove also turned on the lights.

Just how the members of the Brooksville Housing Authority allowed the conditions of their properties to get to that state and the missteps they may have taken to fix the problems cost three commissioners their unpaid posts on Monday night.

A fourth faces ouster on Aug. 20. Handling of the maintenance issues in the authority's low-income apartments at Summit Villas and Hillside Estates as well as the commissioners' oversight of the management of the complexes led Mayor David Pugh to seek removal of the officials.

The law allows the mayor to take that action if the commissioners could be guilty of inefficiency, neglect of duty or misconduct.

The Housing Authority has had problems for some time. Both Executive Director Betty Trent and its Program Manager Joe Ann Bennett have been convicted in recent months on federal fraud charges.

City Attorney David La Croix began the hearing by reading for nearly 30 minutes excerpts from newspaper articles and other documents detailing the long history of maintenance and management issues at the Housing Authority.

He called several witnesses, then allowed the embattled commissioners to present their own cases.

By the end of the council's marathon Monday night meeting, Carl Pilcher, Gertrude Mobley and Donnamaria Lopez were off the authority board at the mayor's recommendation.

There are seven members of the Housing Authority board, but only four are under fire because the other members who were on the board at the time of the improprieties have been replaced.

Pilcher argued that the real fault rested with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and city officials for not inspecting the housing units and the original construction.

"It was not done right in the first place," he said.

He described how the housing board gathered assessments on the utility needs of their properties but that HUD found no problems.

La Croix asked if Pilcher ever looked into the reports that much of the work done in the buildings over the years was done by unlicensed people but Pilcher bristled at the question accusing the city of getting its investigation "straight out of the newspaper."

As La Croix repeatedly asked if the board had the facilities inspected after the revelation about the unlicensed work, Pilcher simply repeated that he couldn't answer. "I didn't read the newspaper," he said.

Pugh and La Croix both questioned Pilcher why he didn't take action to investigate or fire employees even after they were indicted on fraud charges.

"They were innocent until proven guilty," he said, adding that he did not have any details of what was in the indictment.

"You kept her on the payroll," La Croix said of Trent, noting that it was finally HUD that took her off the job.

As the questioning intensified, La Croix asked several different ways about why Pilcher didn't take action once it was clear that there were problems with the employees.

Finally the city attorney gave up in frustration.

"I think it's clear you don't want to answer the question," he said.

Mobley's charges included signing checks for work not yet done and for overtime not yet worked. She said her obligation as chairwoman was to sign the checks.

City Council member Lara Bradburn questioned why she didn't ask more questions about the checks she was signing even though two employees had been indicted for fraud.

Council member Richard Lewis then asked Mobley whether she had any direct authority over the staff on a daily basis. Mobley said she had authority only as a part of the overall board.

A central charge against the commissioners is that they pushed for electrical work to continue in the apartments this spring even after HUD officials and other experts said the immediate danger to residents had passed and even though they had no money to pay for continued work.

By failing to follow HUD rules at that point, the commissioners put their federal funding in jeopardy.

While Pilcher did not face that charge because he was not at that meeting to vote, he said he believed the board continued to try to move the projects forward because there was an immediate need.

"As a board member, I felt I had a moral obligation to see something was done," he said.

Lopez argued that she didn't even vote approval to have electrician Jim Lane continue the work. She said she knew HUD rules had to be followed. But the minutes showed that the vote was unanimous and Lopez was present.

La Croix explained to her that a failure to vote was an affirmative vote. Lopez said she did not support the vote and she begged the council to think through its decision.

While some testimony of witnesses conflicted, the council ultimately agreed with Pugh to remove Lopez from the board.

Pilcher's closing comments were that he had been part of the board to help the community.

"I did it in good faith. I tried to do the best job that I could possibly do," he said.

Mobley urged the council members to come into the neighborhood and help. "You can take me off the board," she said, "but I'm still going to help."

The vote was 3-1 in each case with Richard Lewis voting against the motions. Vice Mayor Frankie Burnett abstained from voting because he has worked with the electrician who has done work at the apartments.

Housing Authority commissioner Paul Boston, who also faces removal, was not at Monday night's meeting. The council granted his request for a continuance.

Because Boston is still on the board, which normally has seven members, a quorum is still available to do the authority's business. Because of that, Pugh decided not to make appointments in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Instead, he said he wanted to do more research before making his recommendations.

After a recent call for interested citizens, 15 people applied to be appointed including several left over from the last application process. Four of those are tenants of the authority's properties. The council this time made extra efforts to find some apartment residents interested in serving on the board.

Barbara Behrendt can be reached at behrendt@sptimes.com or 352 848-1434.

Fast Facts:

The dismissals, in short

-Three Brooksville Housing Authority board members were removed Monday. They are Carl Pilcher, Gertrude Mobley and Donnamaria Lopez.

-Board member Paul Boston, who also faces removal, was not at Monday's meeting. He was granted a continuance.

- All Brooksville City Council votes on the removals were 3-1, with Richard Lewis opposed. Vice Mayor Frankie Burnett abstained.

[Last modified August 7, 2007, 20:48:38]