By ROBIN SHANNON and David Vitrano

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – A new era for the St. John the Baptist Parish Housing Authority began Thursday as the parish council approved the appointment of three new housing board members.

Recommendations to approve the appointments of Melissa Faucheux and Iona Halloway, both of LaPlace, and Deshonda Firmin, of Reserve, all carried unanimously at a special meeting of the council.

The new appointees were chosen from recommendations made by council members during the special meeting.

According to Council Chair Ronnie Smith, one more member will be appointed in the future.

“Because there is a housing development on the west bank, we’re going to give Mr. Haston Lewis the chance to bring us an appointment,” said Smith.

Smith explained, “We felt it would just be fair to have a representative from the west bank.”

Only Firmin was present for the meeting. She was sworn in by attorney Randall Gaines following the conclusion of the short meeting.

The new appointments come just two days after the council voted to remove all five existing members of the Housing Authority Commission citing mismanagement problems detailed in a recent audit of the agency.

Following a lengthy hearing at Tuesday’s council meeting, where three of the five commissioners defended themselves against accusations made in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-conducted audit, council members Steve Lee, Jaclyn Hotard, Darnell Usry, Ronnie Smith and Raydel Morris voted in favor of the removal. Council members Charles Julien, Haston Lewis and Cheryl Millet cast votes against the measure.

Many of the council members who voted to oust commissioners Allen Smith, Paula Hart, Evelyn Williams, Arthur Smith and Priscilla James indicated they did not necessarily blame the commissioners for the deficiencies outlined in the audit.

“Sometimes it is just necessary to start over,” said Lee prior to the vote. “It is clear that this agency is in need of more help and support from HUD.”

The move by the council comes nearly three months after the release of the scathing audit report from HUD that detailed myriad violations by the St. John Housing Authority. The audit accused the agency of poor maintenance of units, inconsistent rent collection policies, chaotic meetings and poor accounting practices.

The most glaring element of the HUD review showed that the housing authority may be on the hook for more than $1 million in grant funding that was spent by the housing authority but went undocumented.

The housing authority must now either provide documentation showing how the money was spent or refund the full amount.

Winston Decuir, an attorney representing the commissioners in attendance, told the council that neither he nor his clients understood exactly what the commissioners did wrong. He said the council did not provide adequate cause for removal and added that the audit report was merely allegations and could be construed as hearsay.

“You must be specific as to who did what while serving on the board,” Decuir said. “No notice was sent to any commissioner detailing what they are accused of. According to statute, a commissioner can be removed for neglect, misconduct or felony, and at no point does the audit accuse them of that.”

Decuir also raised the possibility of a conflict of interest regarding action taken by the council. He said the councilman who made the motion to call for the removal, Raydel Morris, is a former Housing Board member and should be disqualified from taking any further action.

District Attorney Tom Daley, the legal advisor for the council, said there is no economic interest among council members regarding the Housing Authority and, therefore, no conflict.

Prior to the vote, Councilman Charles Julien said he believed the council was acting too swiftly in removing the commissioners.

He recommended keeping the existing board but sending them to get proper training to take care of the deficiencies detailed in the report.

Councilman Haston Lewis agreed and said the council should not remove the existing board if there are no ready replacements available.

“We need people who know how to do the job,” Lewis said.