Housing authority discusses future

FAYETTEVILLE — It will be at least a month until the Housing Authority hires an interim director to fill in while a national search is done to find a permanent hire.

Former Executive Director Deniece Smiley was fired at the end of a meeting that went past midnight Thursday. The board met Monday in a special session to go over the transition plan and take a closer look at the budget.

Laura Higgins, Section 8 director, has been fulfilling Smiley’s duties. She will serve as acting interim director until an interim director is hired.

The board decided Monday it would draft a job description for the interim role and vote on it next week. Then it will take applications and hire someone during its regular October meeting.

In a statement issued Friday morning, the board said it would search nationally for new executive leadership. That search could take at least three months, said Angela Belford, who the board hired as an organizational audit consultant. Belford is the board chairwoman for the regional Continuum of Care, a coalition of service providers for homeless residents. She has a contract with the Housing Authority board to manage its website.

Belford suggested expanding the scope of her contract to include interim director duties. Board Chairwoman Melissa Terry said the interim director role has a different set of tasks requiring a separate contract.

In other business, the board approved its budgets for the fiscal 2019. The public housing operating budget

projects $1,078,820 in revenue and $1,224,790 in expenses. The authority has about $2 million in uncommitted money, according to a financial audit report the board received Thursday.

The authority manages only one property, Morgan Manor at 324 E. 12th Place, through a project-based rental assistance program. Residents who receive financial assistance there get the subsidy while living at Morgan Manor, and can’t take the assistance with them after they move. Revenue is projected

at $380,014 with expenses at $253,500.

The board approved both budgets, noting adjustments could be made at a later time.

Board members made one change Monday regarding raises for staff.

Board Member Evelyn Rios

Stafford said raises in the proposed budget averaged 4 percent to 6 percent. The board voted to make raises uniform among employees at 3 percent to reflect a cost of living increase. Terry suggested holding annual performance reviews in order to justify future merit-based raises.