Board members of the Clark County Housing Authority Wednesday balked at a proposal to fold together the Las Vegas Valley's three housing authorities into one -- not because of the idea itself, but because the board wasn't in the loop during recent discussions on the idea between authority directors and the federal government.
"We should have been presented with the concept to decide what to do (and) it's unfortunate things have precipitated," said Fernando Romero, board chairman, at the meeting.
Another issue raised was whether Clark County would "inherit" problems from the Las Vegas and North Las Vegas authorities, which are facing financial and administrative issues.
The consolidation of the three would save costs and provide more efficient services, according to letters back and forth between the agencies and the federal Housing and Urban Development Department. The move would involve combined budgets totalling more than $100 million and affect affordable housing for about 20,000 poor people in the Las Vegas Valley.
HUD regional spokesman Larry Bush did not return a call seeking comment on the issue.
The idea of merging only the Section 8 programs at the three authorities was apparently first brought up in a March 29 visit to the authorities by Michael Liu, HUD assistant secretary, according to an April 15 letter to Liu signed by the executive directors of the agencies. Section 8 provides vouchers to poor families to help them pay their rent.
In that letter, the directors say they would rather see a complete merger.
"The 'full' consolidation of the three agencies into a Regional Southern Nevada Housing Authority would not only be a more efficient and effective method of administrating all programs managed by our Authorities, but also provide our community with 'one stop' services for all housing needs," it says.
"The merger would result in the best practices, policies and staff, forming a very progressive agency."
But board members Wednesday wondered why the proposal was being handled behind their backs and whether it really would be in everyone's best interest.
Patricia Sherwin Lucas, who in the meeting had her recent resignation as interim executive director approved, said the proposal was a "mandate coming down from Washington."
Then she said that HUD had "strongly encouraged housing authorities to cooperate to reduce costs."
Board member Tim O'Callaghan said after the meeting, "If this is a mandate, where is it? Usually these things are in writing."
He said it "would have been better to go to each of the boards" with the proposal first before advancing in discussions with the federal government.
Douglas Bell, manager of Clark County Community Resources Management, also said the proposal was "kind of out of left field for me."
His agency creates a plan every five years dealing with HUD's programs in the Las Vegas Valley. As soon as he found out about the letters between HUD and housing authority directors, he sent a memo to members of the Clark County Commission, who appoint the members of the county's housing authority board.
"I wanted them to know, 'This is what's going on here' -- so they're not caught unaware," he said.
During the public comment portion of Wednesday's meeting, Beatrice Turner, a member of the Las Vegas Housing Authority's board, said her board was also out of the loop.
"It's never been brought before our board ... and we really don't know what's going on," she said.
Turner also referred to her agency's problems with mold and the North Las Vegas Housing Authority's problems with its budget.
"How are you going to merge your housing authority with one with findings and another one ... that don't have 35 cents?"
Romero said after the meeting, "We're very stable. My concern is that we continue running our housing authority in the efficient way we're doing it."
O'Callaghan also wondered whether the proposal could be a way for the other agencies to "get rid of problems," since the letter signed by all three authority directors includes a request for waivers on making certain improvements requested by HUD and "forgiveness of any outstanding audit findings."
Bell said that it is important "to keep in mind the people you serve and not the needs of the bureaucracy" and that the idea should at least be considered.
"The key," O'Callaghan said, "is providing safe, clean, affordable housing -- we're still not sure if that is achieved by this plan."
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