Housing board member charged

Hernando Today

BROOKSVILLE - A Brooksville Housing Authority board member has been charged with inefficiency and neglect of duty while a second, who had initially refused to resign, has decided to step down after all.

Hernando Today obtained a letter late Monday from Mayor David Pugh Jr. to housing board chairman Steve Zeledon outlining the charges against him.

And, in a letter from housing board member Jeanette Soto to Pugh, Soto reverses her decision to go through a hearing and resigned effective immediately.

According to the letter from Pugh, Zeledon is charged with:

- engaging in or allowing disruptive behavior during authority board meetings;

- failing to require the housing authority to maintain financial records and other bookkeeping methods "in accordance with generally accepted principles";

- failing to "implement appropriate recruitment/hiring procedures" for the authority's executive director and/or the staff;

- and failing to "produce/provide proper public notice" of housing authority meetings or agenda items.

Zeledon didn't immediately return a phone message left late Monday.

He has said recently that the board and interim executive director Ronnie McLean, who was hired in June, are working together to improve conditions at the authority's two apartment complexes.

He also has said progress is being made to straighten out the accounting mess left behind by former executive director Betty Trent, who was convicted earlier this year on charges of stealing money from the authority.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which funds and oversees the authority, concluded in recently-released report that there is still much work to be done and that McLean and the housing board needs proper training to be up to the task.

In her resignation letter, Soto said she was "extremely reluctant" to step down and that Pugh's efforts to remove her had damaged her reputation.

"I couldn't possibly imagine any charges directed at me," she wrote, pointing out that she only served for three months. "There are good things happening in the community."

Last month, Pugh sent letters to Zeledon, Soto and board members Earl Watkins and Paul Douglas asking them to resign. He didn't cite specific charges but said the board wasn't being effective.

Watkins and Douglas stepped down; Zeledon and Soto refused.

"I'm pleased I don't have to go forward with any type of hearing," Pugh said Monday of Soto's change of heart. "I think she understands it it's in the best interest of the city for her to resign. I appreciate her understanding."

He declined to elaborate on the charges against Zeledon.

The city council only appoints and has the power to remove board members.

Zeledon's hearing is slated for 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 17 before the council's regular meeting. Pugh will present his evidence and Zeledon will get 15 minutes to respond. If Pugh makes a recommendation to remove Zeledon, it must be approved by a majority vote of the council.

The seven-member housing board now has just three members. Pugh wants local professionals to step into the board on a temporary basis to help evaluate the authority and help the city decide whether to be involved with the authority.

He stressed the apartments will remain; it's a matter, he said, of whether the city should continue in even the minimal role it has now.

"I believe there is going to be quite a few people stepping up to the task and take roles to figure out what direction the city needs to go in," Pugh said.