ERIK SANZENBACH / L’Observateur / July 28, 1999

LAPLACE- In the long-awaited report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the St. John Housing Authority Board ofCommissioners has been singled out as one of the main reasons that public housing in St. John the Baptist is in such disarray.HUD states, “The Board of Commissioners of St. John Baptist ParishHousing Authority failed to properly govern the agency. The Board ofCommissioners was instrumental in destroying the undergirding of effective governance and therefore should assume the responsibility of the difficulties now being experienced at the housing authority.”HUD also agreed with the St. John Parish Council’s action to disband theBoard of Commissioners.

According to the report, the board failed in four major areas: The board interfered in the day-to-day operations of the Housing Authority. The Board of Commissioners’ only purpose is to “design,develop, implement and oversee public housing authority policies.” Theday-to-day administration, operation and maintenance lies solely with the executive director, Patrena Ester.

The board interfered in implementing established policies for maintenance and repair of public housing units. The board did notdiscourage residents from reporting maintenance problems to them instead of to the maintenance department. As a result, the maintenanceworkers are not aware of all the maintenance problems that exist on public housing property. The actual problems are not getting to the properchannels, and scheduling, work orders and tracking of work orders is non- existent; therefore needed maintenance never gets done.

The board interfered with the Housing Authority in collecting charges from residents who willfully damaged or abused their homes. Despiteconstant urging from the executive director, the board “routinely provided waivers to residents who had neglected or abused property.” The board interfered with established housing policies on criminal activity within public housing. HUD has a one-strike-zero-tolerance policywhich evicts any tenant that is involved in any criminal activity. The St.John Sheriff’s Department reported to HUD that three commissioners are voting as a block allowing access to St. John Housing Authority of peopleof “questionable character.” The sheriff’s report goes on to say, “they (thethree board commissioners) appear to find no conflict of interest in allowing drug dealers, armed robbers and murderers access to Housing Authority property.”The three commissioners mentioned by the sheriff’s report are Sheila Morris, Ronnie Feist and Felton Collins. Of the three, only Morriscommented, only to say nothing.

“I have nothing to say until I read the entire report,” she said.

Feist could not be contacted, and Collins did not return phone calls. Noneof the other commissioners had any comment, although Paula Swilley did agree with the report that her vote was always overruled by Morris, Feist and Collins.

Not all the blame lies with the board, though. HUD states that residents dowillfully damage public housing and do not take care of the surrounding areas.

HUD also reports that some members of the St. John Parish Council haveinterfered to “intervene, waive or suspend St. John the Baptist HousingAgency policies/regulations/protocols for their constituency.” However,HUD did not name any particular local official or officials.

Local reaction to the report was varied and sometimes emotional.

Councilman-at-Large Dale Wolfe was vehement in his reaction.

“That report is not worth the paper it is written on,” he stated. “HUDdoesn’t know a thing about the board.”Wolfe’s main problem with the HUD report, he said, is that it points the finger at the wrong people.

“Ms. Ester is responsible for all the housing mess,” he said. ” The blamelies with Ester. They (HUD) want to sugar coat everything and treat Esterlike a queen. Ester knows about the criminal activity going on.”When contacted, Ester would not comment on anything in the report or on Wolfe’s allegations.

Parish President Arnold Labat said he thinks the report is a good thing.

“HUD did a thorough investigation,” Labat said, “and it shows that action has to be taken to get housing back on track.”Labat agrees there are problems with maintenance and the board.

“The board is not letting the executive director do her job,” he said.

On the whole, Labat sees the report as pretty good.

“Overall, out of 315 units, the report only says that 15 units had serious problems,” he said. “That is only 4 percent of the parish’s public housing.Compared to other HUD programs around the state, we are doing OK.”Labat’s biggest worry with the report is resident safety.

“Over half the public housing residents moved out last year because they were afraid,” he said. “This shows that something is wrong. We are notproviding safe housing.”Labat suggests several things that can be done: Dismiss the Board of Commissioners. (which was done on July 6) The new board should be sent to HUD for intensive training Meet with Ester and re-organize the maintenance department as outlined in the HUD report.

Labat sees a bright spot in all this. “This is a problem, but it is somethingthat can be overcome.”Parish Council President Duaine Duffy responded to the report by saying, “I can’t say that I disagree with the report. The report didn’t surprise me.”Even though he was unaware of the criminal activity that went on under the Housing Authority’s nose, Duffy said, “What I get out of the report is that when we appoint a new commission, we must follow HUD laws and their guidelines. I also think the Sheriff’s Department should take moreaction within public housing.”Councilman Nickie Monica was also not too surprised by the report’s findings.

“I’ve been to several board meetings, and I’m aware of unjust favoritism,” he said. “We need to make a clean sweep to get back on track.”To make that clean sweep, HUD urges the Parish Council to appoint a Board of Commissioners who will govern the Housing Authority like a business and who are not “motivated by politics or self serving interests.”As of 1997, Labat is in charge of appointing the board, and he says he will try and follow HUD’s suggestions. First though, he and the Parish Councilhave to go through the appeals process because all five of the former commissioners have appealed their dismissal. According to Labat, thiswill take another couple of weeks before a new board can be appointed.

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