DECATUR -- Decatur Housing Authority's board of director's meeting was pretty routine on Thursday -- approving minutes, reviewing budgets and the like -- but what went on in the days prior to the public meeting was less than routine: DHA director Debbie Weston sent three letters to board members to explain why housing authority money was paid to individuals who did private work for her at her home, why an attorney was retained for her criminal case using housing authority funds without housing authority board approval and documenting minutes she says she sent to the city of Decatur with board appointments.
In a Sept. 24 letter to the Decatur Housing Authority Board, which oversees 34 apartments rented out with income-based assistance available from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Weston wrote: "In an attempt to prevent any more information than necessary reaching the media, I have enclosed documents requested by Fred Thompson for all of you to view. Also a copy of bank statements since we are only having limited issues on the agenda."
Fred Thompson is a member of the housing authority board.
The letter explains that Weston has kept a spreadsheet of her accrued vacation time and the time she has taken off since June 2010 when she started working for DHA. She says she broke down her hourly rate of pay to "come up with the figures" she "used to deduct the time" for work done on her house. Weston explains in the letter that she paid most of the individuals who worked at her house with cash or her own personal checks, but she also said: "When they did work for me and I was using my vacation pay, I made entry on my vacation register."
The register she attached shows that she paid Alex Bisbee, Josh Yates, Daniel Eubanks, Garry Finnell and Misty Terry a total of $444 from DHA funds but deducted 18.03 hours of her accrued vacation at $24.58 per hour to cover the personal expense paid with DHA funds.
Her spreadsheet also includes reference to being paid for 142 hours of unused vacation time in December 2013, which she said was approved by Carl Florer, board chairman, and used for auto repair expenses.
She included a receipt for rental of a small front-end loader in Siloam Springs and said the reimbursement to her included payment of $40 for gas for Josh Yates because a dual-wheel vehicle was needed to pull the loader.
In a Sept. 15 letter to the Decatur Housing Authority Board and chairman, Weston wrote: "As you all know, Stacy Brooks and Fred Thompson talked with me on Friday after our previous board meeting, and I was informed that you had decided not to pay for my legal fees. I had spoken with our auditor and fee accountant and they both told me that it was a valid expense, so I retained an attorney on my behalf for $2,500."
Weston went on to write: "I had informed Stacy that I would pay the Housing Authority back with either my vacation pay, which I have three weeks I received in July of this year, or at $50 per pay period."
The letter asks the board to reconsider paying Weston's legal fees and further claims that the decision to evict Josh Yates was made 20 minutes prior to the incident involving Weston picking up the dog -- an Aug. 7 incident for which she was arrested and faces possible criminal charges for allegedly taking a resident's dog and not returning it to her.
According to board member Stacy Brooks, the board never voted on the matter of whether to pay legal fees for Weston.
Bank records obtained by the Eagle Observer show that a housing authority check was written to Joel Huggins as a retainer for legal services on Aug. 19. The check bears signatures of Debbie Weston and board chairman Carl Florer.
Weston also wrote a letter dated Sept. 25 to update the board on costs for medical insurance for her. In the letter, she offers to accept the tax penalty under Obamacare if the DHA would help her pay the monthly cost of prescribed medications.
When asked about the letters on Friday, Weston only said, "How did you get them?" and "Who gave them to you?"
The letters and accompanying documents were obtained by the Eagle Observer from the city of Decatur through the Freedom of Information Act.
In board action on Thursday, the board approved minutes, accepted a revised amended budget for 2014, approved a 2015 budget, recommended the appointment of Stacy Brooks to the board for another 4-year term and voted to look into costs for professional pest control services.
The pest control issue was discussed at the request of board member Lester "Kenneth" Setser even though it was not included on the agenda. Setser requested to bring up a number of items at the meeting but was only permitted to bring up the issue of pest control and a question regarding liability coverage for board members.
According to Weston, the cost for pest control services was so high after a previous vendor went out of business that she has been spraying around the outside of apartments herself in an effort to save money.
Setser argued that the provider should be licensed and bonded.
Under budget discussions, Setser also suggested an additional trash bin be provided because of occasions when the one bin could not hold all the trash and residents were apparently asked to keep their trash inside their apartments until the bin was emptied to avoid additional charges to the housing authority from the trash provider. Also included in budget discussion was the purchase of a lawn mower for $6,500 with payments of $146.74 per month and the purchase of a pickup truck for $3,500.
After covering other agenda items, the board entered into executive session with the stated purpose of evaluating the performance of Weston. No official action was taken following the executive session, but the Eagle Observer received information from two sources that the federal department of Housing and Urban Development office in Little Rock was contacted for advice and guidance regarding issues relating to the executive director. On Tuesday, the Eagle Observer received confirmation from HUD spokesperson Patricia Campbell that the HUD regional office in Little Rock had been contacted for guidance.
Setser said on Monday that he also wanted to bring up at the board meeting complaints he had received from tenants and former employees of the housing authority, the director's misuse of public funds for personal work, the director carrying over more than a week of vacation time and the director disposing of housing authority property without board approval by taking it out of state and selling it at a flea market. Setser said he also had concerns regarding the budget and line items in it which remain unanswered.
"My concern is for the tenants and the community," Setser said.
General News on 10/01/2014