HICKORY, N.C.,None — The Hickory Public Housing Authority recently had an audit conducted by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, prompted by a complaint filed from a former board member.
Usually conducted by HUD’s Greensboro field office, this audit was conducted by the HUD Office of Inspector General (OIG) in Washington, DC. Kathleen Hatcher, director of external affairs for OIG, could not confirm or deny if there was an investigation in addition to the audit conducted at the Hickory office.
“We opened an audit based on a citizen complaint,” Hatcher said.
She couldn’t comment on what was found during the audit, saying the report would likely be completed in mid-March. She said audits cover a range of topics.
“The scope varies based on risk assessment, but it can be on payments, questionable purchases, bookkeeping, procedures, personnel and how effective they’re implementing HUD’s practices,” Hatcher said.
The OIG conducted four audits in 2011 in North Carolina. According to the audit reports on its website, the OIG can order organizations overseen by HUD to repay money and develop new controls to follow program requirements.
Hickory Public Housing Authority Executive Director Alanda Jackson said HUD conducts an annual audit for the Housing Authority, looking at financials, income and fraud. She said when OIG conducted its most recent audit, they were at the office from September to January, something she didn’t find unusual.
“A HUD audit can take a year or two,” Jackson said.
She said she wouldn’t know what officials found until the exit interview was conducted. Although the Greensboro field office usually conducts Hickory Housing Authority’s audit, Jackson isn’t worried.
“I don’t have anything to be concerned about because no money is missing,” she said.
Jackson said she didn’t know why the OIG office conducted the audit, rather than the Greensboro office.
Former Hickory Public Housing Authority Board of Commission member Larry Pope said he is the person who contacted the OIG office.
“I served on the board nine years, and during that time, a lot concerned me,” Pope said. “So I met with the board in its entirety.”
He maintains the board ignored problems with the Housing Authority.
“As time passed, things kept coming to my attention and I felt things had to be done,” he said. “I filed a complaint with Washington’s office of Public Housing. I got a phone call three weeks later letting me know they would be coming.”
Pope was replaced on the board when his term was up, although Pope said he was interested in serving another term.
Hickory City Council approves the members on the Hickory Public Housing Authority Board. Mayor Rudy Wright said the people on the board are not automatically renewed at the end of their term.
Wright said he asked Steve Hunt, who is a product of public housing, if he would be interested in serving in the upcoming open seat, and Hunt agreed. He was approved by city council.
More than a half-dozen current employees or ones who have recently quit asked the commissioners to a meeting on Friday, Feb. 10. None of the commissioners attended. Only the chair, Clement Geitner, called to say he would be unable to attend, Pope said.
Geitner wouldn’t comment on the meeting, saying it was an internal matter.
The employees said Jackson intimidated them on a regular basis at work and prohibited them from talking to HUD, even if their duties required them to do so. They maintain Jackson kept a tight control on the office, not allowing any information to be disseminated from the Housing Authority unless it came from her.
Some of the former employees at the meeting, who did not want to be named in the newspaper but who did comment on the record, said they quit because the work environment was intolerable, describing it as “harsh and intense.” Several said they developed health problems while working at the Hickory Public Housing Authority due to the stressful work environment.
Geitner said he was not aware of any threats or intimidation against staff members.
He declined to comment on anything else.
Hunt, who replaced Pope on the board during the summer, said he received a letter in the mail about the meeting on Thursday. Hunt said the notice was too late for him. However, even if he had received notice earlier, he likely would not have attended the Feb. 10 meeting.
“If they want to bring an issue before the board, they know when the board meets,” he said. “That’s the protocol, as I understand it.”
Commission member Sidney Myles called the meeting unofficial and also said it was against protocol.
The former employees disagree.
Citing their personnel manual, they said if there is a problem, they should go first to their supervisor, then the department head, then the executive director, then the board of commissioners.
“We followed procedure, because the executive director is the problem,” one said. “We, as a group, went to the governing body for answers. We got our answer tonight.”
Pope said the current board is protecting Jackson.
Vice-chair E.G. Fuller, when contacted, did not say he was protecting Jackson. However, he said board has given a “vote of confidence” to Jackson. He thinks there may be personal issues at play.
Commission member Bonnie Rice, when reached, referred questions to Jackson.