LR housing board at full tally
Five commissioners meet for first time since September
The board of commissioners of the Little Rock housing authority met Thursday with a full slate of five members for the first time in roughly six months.
It also was the first board meeting following the resignation of former Executive Director Ericka Benedicto on March 8.
Last September, the Little Rock Board of Directors removed then-Chair H. Lee Lindsey and then-Vice Chair Leta Anthony from the housing authority’s board in light of problems identified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Two other commissioners, Branndii Peterson and Louis Jackson, exited the housing authority’s board around the same time. Mayor Frank Scott Jr. had been prepared to initiate removal proceedings against all five commissioners.
Peterson was not reappointed, while Jackson reportedly had lost his eligibility to occupy the resident position on the board because he was no longer a recipient of subsidized housing.
City board members declined to remove commissioner Kerry Wright in September — Wright had joined the housing authority’s board earlier in the year — and later appointed Karen Buchanan and Bruce James.
After a judge’s decision cleared the way for Lindsey and Anthony’s old seats to be filled, the city board on March 5 confirmed Stacie Brown and Monty Baugh.
Brown, a resident of the Sunset Terrace complex, was appointed to fill the resident position on the board as required by federal regulations.
On Thursday, commissioners were joined at the conference table by Lamont Wimbley, the housing authority’s finance director who is now serving as interim executive director.
Wimbley was hired by the housing authority last July and previously served as the
chief financial officer of the Arkansas Department of Corrections.
Prior to her resignation, Benedicto had led the agency, which does business as the Metropolitan Housing Alliance, for two and a half years.
A March 8 news release said Benedicto was not seeking an extension to her twoyear contract “so that she can pursue other professional opportunities and spend more time with her family.”
Benedicto initially joined the housing authority as its interim chief in September 2021 in the wake of the firing of former Executive Director Nadine Jarmon. Before commissioners terminated her, Jarmon had accused them of misconduct and mismanagement and called for their removal.
During Thursday’s meeting, with all five commissioners present during roll call, Wright, the board chairman, remarked upon the milestone.
“This is the first time in a long, long time that this board has had a full board membership,” he said.
After returning from executive session, commissioners voted to appoint three people to the board of the housing authority’s affiliated nonprofit entity known as the Central Arkansas Housing Corporation.
Baker Kurrus, Jeremiah Russell and Quinyatta Mumford were named to the board of the 501(c)(3), which previously was led by Anthony.
Kurrus is an attorney and former state-appointed superintendent of the Little Rock School District who ran for mayor of Little Rock in 2018.
Commissioners also voted to assign to the nonprofit’s board all tasks necessary to bring the nonprofit in compliance with federal and state tax rules and statutes, as well as state nonprofit incorporation statutes.
Last October, the reconstituted board of the housing authority removed the Central Arkansas Housing Corporation’s entire five-member board, including Anthony.