Efficiency, modification shine at real estate authority meeting

NEW FACES: From left to right, Karen Buchanan, Bruce James, Kerry Wright and Ericka Benedicto.
Mary Hennigan

After a turbulent September that saw the ouster of three commissioners, the Metropolitan Housing Alliance of Little Rock has new management and grand strategies..

A quorum consisting of 3 commissioners-- 2 of them brand name brand-new-- satisfied Wednesday for a special-called conference, and this new team managing the city's housing authority appears to be putting its metaphorical foot down.

Wednesday's conference is the very first since the Little Rock Board of Directors voted to eject two previous commissioners, Lee Lindsey and Leta Anthony, in September. That choice followed months of contention over troublesome federal findings about questionable and incomplete bookkeeping. Among different reports, one from the Quality Assurance Division within the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found about $30 million in "currently questioned, possibly prohibited" funds in between the housing authority and its associated nonprofit, the Central Arkansas Housing Corporation.

Though the Little Rock Board of Directors approved Lindsey and Anthony's removal, the commissioners alleged the hearing procedure was poorly handled and they filed a claim. The real estate authority's designated lawyer, Sylvester Smith, is representing the pair. A hearing is set for Oct. 31 in Pulaski County Circuit Court to figure out whether Lindsey and Anthony can rejoin the commission.
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While the lawsuit is pending, Kerry Wright, Karen Buchanan and Bruce James comprise the present commission; the other two seats remain vacant. The members voted Wednesday to eliminate all board members of the not-for-profit Central Arkansas Housing Corporation, consisting of Lindsey and Anthony who served on both commissions.

As part of that same resolution, the commission elected Little Rock's Metropolitan Housing Alliance staff to delve into records at the Central Arkansas Housing Corporation for themselves. Previous requests for monetary documents have not been fulfilled, and the records are needed to finish audits at the real estate authority. The Little Rock Housing Authority hasn't reported an audit given that 2019, and numerous of the low ratings from HUD depend upon that lag.
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City Attorney Tom Carpenter, who was at the conference Wednesday and offered the group legal counsel, stated due to the fact that the real estate authority is the not-for-profit's just member, the staff at Metropolitan Housing Alliance can lawfully enter and access the records.

The Central Arkansas Housing Corporation will be alerted by Monday, Oct. 30, that individuals from the Little Rock Housing Authority will come calling. During their check out, staff from the Metropolitan Housing Alliance are anticipated to look through computer system records, change the locks and inform the not-for-profit's personnel of a brand-new reporting structure through the housing authority's executive director, Ericka Benedicto.

To assist get up to date on audits, the commission also authorized a contract with a financial company called Lindsey MRI Software Company.

The goal with the resolutions handed down Wednesday is not to dissolve the Central Arkansas Housing Corporation, Wright told press reporters after the conference, but to collect information that was formerly inaccessible.
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