Court weighs two ousters on housing panel
Judge extends preliminary injunction on replacements
Pulaski County Circuit Judge Cara Connors heard arguments and witness testimony on Tuesday in a lawsuit over the ouster of two Little Rock housing commissioners.
Connors left in place the preliminary injunction she issued on Oct. 17 barring the city of Little Rock from replacing the ex-commissioners on the five-seat housing authority board.
Additionally, toward the conclusion of the hearing, Connors sought to make a distinction between quasi-judicial and legislative due process.
She indicated she felt that because of the misconduct allegation leveled against the former commissioners, their removal might have required quasi-judicial due process.
In separate votes of the Little Rock Board of Directors on Sept. 26, H. Lee Lindsey and Leta Anthony were removed from the housing authority’s board of commissioners.
The city board’s action came shortly after the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development issued a report that documented financial and management lapses at the housing authority. The city board declined to remove a third commissioner, Kerry Wright, who had been confirmed to the panel last March.
Lindsey and Anthony had served as chair and vice chair, respectively. They are seeking to be reinstated to the panel through their lawsuit, which was filed Oct. 13.
During the removal proceedings in September, Lindsey and Anthony were represented by attorney Sylvester Smith, while Wright spoke on his own behalf.
At the time, there were no witnesses called. Little Rock City Attorney Tom Carpenter questioned Smith and Wright instead of city board members asking questions of them directly.
According to state law, commissioners of a city or county housing authority can be removed for “inefficiency or neglect of duty or misconduct in office” by a majority vote of the local governing body.
However, the law does not provide much in the way of specific instructions when it comes to the hearing process.
“Removal shall occur only after the commissioner has been given a copy of
the charges, at least ten (10) days prior to the hearing on the charges, and the commissioner has had an opportunity to be heard in person or by counsel,” state law says.
In addition to the due-process considerations, Connors on Tuesday asked both sides to address a question of standing in briefs to be submitted to her. The issue arose because Lindsey and Anthony have sued in their official capacities as housing commissioners even though they have been expelled.
Over the coming weeks, attorneys for both sides are expected to submit written responses to the judge’s queries.
Earlier during the hearing, Smith called Anthony as well as City Director Ken Richardson, the Ward 2 representative on the city board, as witnesses. Lindsey was present in court but was not called to testify.
Carpenter appeared before Connors on behalf of the city and Mayor Frank Scott Jr.
In his opening remarks, Smith argued his clients were denied due process.
In her testimony, Anthony named the housing authority’s Executive Director Ericka Benedicto and independent public accountant Corey Jennings as possible witnesses who might have been called during the removal proceedings.
Anthony also said it was her intent to testify, but she was not allowed to.
Asked about the effect the process has had on her, Anthony said others had referred to the process as a present-day “lynching.”
It was perceived by many, including her, that the decision had already been made going into the removal proceedings, Anthony suggested.
Under cross-examination by Carpenter, Anthony argued that the housing authority’s board of commissioners had done its job.
Richardson’s time on the witness stand was more brief.
He was asked about his votes during the Sept. 26 removal proceedings. At the time, Richardson, who serves as the city board’s liaison to the housing authority, was one of two city directors who voted against removing Lindsey and Anthony.
Richardson voted “present” on a motion to not remove Wright.
Smith also asked Richardson about his remark on Sept. 26, delivered after the city board had taken its votes, that as far as the question of why two commissioners were removed and not the third, it seemed to be a “complexion for the connection.” (Lindsey and Anthony are Black whereas Wright is white.)
The city board recently confirmed Karen Buchanan and Bruce James to fill out the housing authority’s board, replacing Branndii Peterson and Louis Jackson, but left Lindsey and Anthony’s seats vacant in light of the judge’s order.
Connors previously denied a motion from Carpenter that asked her to stay the preliminary injunction until Tuesday’s hearing could be held.