After complaint, former public housing leader waits for decision on eviction
A former Chattanooga public housing leader and resident representative to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will know within 10 days if she will be evicted.
Roxann Larson, former president of the Dogwood Manor resident association and a former vice president of the National Alliance of HUD Tenants, faces eviction after more than a dozen residents accused her of bullying and harassment.
Larson said on Facebook Friday that she hopes “to see the eviction gone and all of the complaints expunged from my record because they were just lies.”
A complaint against her signed by 19 residents and submitted to the Chattanooga Housing Authority states, “She is a bully and the tenants are tired of it. Something has to be done before someone gets hurt. She is stressing everybody out in the building.”
Some of the same complainants also filed individual reports against her.
The 64-year-old mother and grandmother said she plans to move out of the complex when she is financially able, but she doesn’t want an eviction on her record.
For the five years she lived in the building, she helped get rid of bedbugs, got elevators repaired and prepared food for residents who needed assistance, she said.
In 2012, Chattanooga Organized for Action gave her its Lorenzo Ervin Freedom Fighter Award for work she had done in the building and toward keeping College Hill Courts, the largest public housing site in the city, from being demolished.
She sat in a hearing Thursday for more than three hours defending charges against her, listening to witnesses give complaints against her and others who spoke on her behalf.
The meeting, closed to the public, included Chattanooga Housing Authority hearing officer Dan Thomas, CHA’s operations executive Ann Martin, Dogwood Community Manager Wanda Autry and Larson.
Thomas called witnesses in one by one to testify.
“She has caused more trouble for more tenants in the building on every floor that she has lived on in the last 10 years,” the
written complaint against her state.
Larson said she’s lived at Dogwood Manor for only five years.
Some residents standing outside the building said they wanted to testify on Larson’s behalf, but declined for fear of retaliation. They said she seemed to have a mob against her.
“People not liking you should not be a reason to make you move and/or feel threatened about losing your apartment,” said one tenant.
Larson noted that most complaints filed against her came after April 21, after she filed an order of protection against a tenant, Tim Brown, accusing him of assault. Larson said Brown turned other tenants against her, and they held a private meeting to organize how they would get rid of her.
Brown accused Larson of unnecessarily calling the police on himself and other tenants.
According to an emailed statement from the housing authority, “Eviction proceedings are only started as a last resort after the housing authority has done all it can to work with the resident.”
Housing officials said that, even if an eviction is the decision, Larson could appeal and it may take several months before the process is complete.
Contact staff writer Yolanda Putman at yputman@timesfree press.com or 423-7576431.