Board votes unanimously to fire director

Authority will search nationally for new leader

FAYETTEVILLE — Public housing in the city will have new administrative leadership.

The Housing Authority went into executive session after midnight Thursday and unanimously voted to fire Deniece Smiley, executive director, according to board Chairwoman Melissa Terry.

“We would like to thank Ms. Deniece Smiley for her service and dedication, but we are heading in a new direction that requires new leadership,” Terry said in a statement released Friday morning.

Smiley was hired as director in 2014. She previously worked for Walmart in legal compliance and as Washington County senior deputy prosecutor.

The board will search nationally for new executive leadership promoting a progressive and proactive future for the authority’s residents and community, Terry said.

The board discussed an organizational audit, went over the authority’s financial audit statements and fiscal year budgets, reviewed an addition to its bylaws regarding conflicts of interest and met with Joel Gardner, director of Ozark Regional Transit. The meeting began at 6 p.m. A reporter for the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette left at 9:30 p.m. Video of the meeting should be available Monday on the city website.

The firing is the latest change in the authority’s administrative

makeup. Board member Chris White resigned in July.

Board Chairman Mike Emery stepped down in August citing stress and animosity from the public. A previous board decision to sell property at Willow Heights, 10 S. Willow Ave., and move residents to another property it manages at Morgan Manor, 324 E. 12th Place, became the subject of controversy last year.

The board has five members. Terry, who advocated against the move, was appointed to the board by the City Council in October, filling a longtime vacancy. Board members Kristen Bensinger and Evelyn Rios Stafford moved in to fill the seats vacated by White and Emery, and had their first meeting Thursday. Lucky McMahon has served since January 2017 and resident representative Debra Humphrey joined in April.

Laura Higgins, administrative assistant and Section 8 director, will fulfill Smiley’s duties in her absence, Terry said. A special meeting is scheduled Monday to hold a budget workshop and appoint an interim director, she said.

Smiley said she and Terry had conflicts, but she stayed

on for her staff.

“Everything I did I felt like I was doing for the Housing Authority and for the community,” she said. “If she

didn’t agree with my actions — that was always my mission. To make things better for the residents of the public housing authority.”