Housing hubbub

City, authority relationship gets a bit chilly

If there’s any doubt about how the Fayetteville City Council feels about the Fayetteville Housing Authority, just look at the aggressive move council members made in appoint- ing the latest commissioner for the public housing group.

The relationship between the Housing Authority and the city of Fayetteville is an arms-length types of governmental connection. Most of the time, the authority’s board vets nominees and makes a selection, which is then given the blessing of the Fayetteville City Council. But not this time.

This time around, the Housing Authority board nominated one person, but the City Council selected a different person. A state statute says once 45 days of a vacancy goes by, the City Council can choose its own person to fill a slot.

Whether 45 days went by in this case is debatable and depends entirely on when one starts counting, but without question, the City Council’s Nominating Committee appeared motivated to make a point to the Housing Authority’s other board members.

The City Council ultimately appointed Melissa Terry to the board, another hint at its unusually aggressive approach.

Terry has been one of the Housing Authority’s most vocal critics in recent months as she resisted the organization’s efforts to build 58 new apartment units at Morgan Manor, one of its public housing complexes. Terry lives near Morgan Manor.

The Housing Authority’s plan also included the sale of Willow Heights, another of its public housing locations. Its residents would be moved to the new Morgan Manor units. The Morgan Manor project suffered a funding setback earlier when its push to receive tax credits from the state foundered. The tax credits could have been sold to raise money for the new apartments. The Housing Authority continues to look for options to move its plan forward.

Naturally, the chairman of the Housing Authority board, Mike Emery, was less than thrilled with the City Council. He said the City Council’s action was disappointing.

It appears just as clear that city leaders don’t care for the direction the Housing Authority has gone. Mayor Lioneld Jordan actively opposed the tax credits and the city’s Planning Commission was resistant to the Morgan Manor plan until the city attorney told them they had little choice but to approve it. Then Sarah Marsh, a council member, appealed that approval to the full City Council at the request of a resident. Which resident? Melissa Terry.

It certainly appears there are tensions and some muscle-flexing going on between the city and the Housing Authority. Hopefully, those can settle down and everyone can begin having fruitful discussions about the future of public housing in Fayetteville.