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Hernando Today

County Housing Authority To Hire Lawyer To Guide Merger

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By TONY MARRERO

Published: July 3, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - The Hernando County Housing Authority is hiring reinforcement legal guns to help negotiate the potential minefield of managing the Brooksville Housing Authority.

The county housing board, in a joint meeting with the Brooksville board, voted unanimously Tuesday evening to hire special counsel to help draft an interlocal agreement between the two authorities and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. HUD funds and oversees both authorities.

A lawyer with special knowledge of HUD operations should help guide the process and make sure that any agreement minimizes the liability for the county housing board and is created to HUD's liking, county board member Anna Liisa Covell said in an interview Wednesday. Covell made the motion during Tuesday's meeting to hire an attorney.

The city authority's shaky financial ground, the shoddy condition of some of its apartments and a pending lawsuit by an electrical contractor seeking $260,000 for work done on one of the Brooksville authority's apartment complexes give the county board pause, Covell said. Those issues must be addressed in any pact that has the county board taking over management of the Brooksville authority.

"I didn't get that warm and fuzzy feeling we could vote on (an agreement) without legal counsel investigating it," Covell said. "We're doing it because our board needs the legal protection to make sure we're headed in the right direction."

The vote gives Hernando Housing Authority Executive Director Don Singer the power to shop for an attorney and hire one immediately, Covell said.

The county housing board will pay for the extra legal fees with reserve funds, she said.

"It could cost us a lot more than legal fees if we make the wrong decision," she said.

Jeff Kirk, an assistant county attorney, advises the county housing board and stressed that HUD should be a party to the agreement and play a role in its language. Kirk said Wednesday that he would do as much as possible to draft the document to help minimize outside legal fees.

Brooksville housing board Chairman Randy Woodruff said his board understands the position considering the authority still has many gaps in its financial records.

"I think it's a great idea," Woodruff said. "We just have to focus on the future."

Brooksville authority missing laptop

A laptop has apparently gone missing from the Brooksville Housing Authority, Woodruff said Wednesday.

Receipts show that two Hewlett Packard laptops were purchased earlier this year, he said. They were apparently under the control of former Executive Director Ronnie McLean, Woodruff said.

McLean returned one, but when Woodruff turned it on, the hard drive was empty, he said.

"There was no operating system on there at all," he said.

Woodruff said McLean first claimed that the second computer was with his daughter in another state.

Then McLean "changed his story," Woodruff said, and reported he only had the one computer he'd already returned. The housing authority asked the Brooksville police to investigate.

McLean told police he only had one laptop, Chief George Turner said. Turner said his department had no basis to file criminal charges and said the issue is now a civil matter between McLean and his former employer.

The housing board fired McLean in May, saying he didn't have the experience to improve conditions there. McLean couldn't be reached for comment.

Reporter Tony Marrero can be reached at 352-544-5286 or lmarrero@hernandotoday.com.

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