The Little Rock Board of Directors voted to get rid of two commissioners on the city’s embattled housing authority at a Tuesday meeting, and elected to let one commissioner stay on. Lee Lindsey and Leta Anthony were removed from the commission immediately, while Kerry Wright can stay.
Lindsey and Anthony were represented by attorney Sylvester Smith. Smith did not represent Wright, the third member appearing before the board of directors on Tuesday. Wright was appointed to the housing authority position earlier this year and chose to represent himself during his hearing.
Brian ChilsonThe vote to remove Lindsey and Anthony was split, six to two. Directors Andrea Lewis and Ken Richardson opposed. Directors Antwan Phillips and Dean Kumpuris were absent.
City board members voted to keep Wright in place on a voice vote, although Richardson could be heard voting “present,” which counts the same as a “no.”
After the votes, Lewis asked how the group could determine one member was OK to stay, while the others had to go. Richardson answered that he suspected “complexion for the connection,” because Lindsey and Anthony are Black while Wright is white.
Director Virgil Miller, who is also Black, disagreed. The room grew tense with murmurs from the crowd, and Mayor Frank Scott Jr. called the board to order.
Tuesday’s hearings came after the board of directors recently urged Scott to request the resignation of all housing commission members. The Little Rock city directors were responding to recent revelations from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that included a “troubled” designation and alleged misconduct within the housing authority.
But Lindsey, Anthony and Wright refused the mayor’s request that they resign, opting to try their luck in Tuesday’s hearings instead.
Another Metropolitan Housing Authority commissioner, Branndii Peterson, agreed to not seek reappointment when her term ends Sept. 30.
After the hearing, the attorney representing Lindsey and Anthony told reporters his next move will be to file an appeal.
Smith said during his argument to the city board and Attorney Tom Carpenter that the procedure was inappropriate and did not allow due process.
Mary Hennigan“The city board made many errors, in my opinion,” Smith said. “Number one, they didn’t allow my clients to testify. They didn’t allow us to call witnesses. They forced us to choose between my speaking for them or them speaking for themselves without counsel.”
Smith said he was forced to prove his clients were innocent, instead of the city proving they were guilty. Lindsey and Anthony do not have access to the financial documents auditors say are still needed, Smith said. That’s because the commission makes policy and monitors the executive director, but they do not handle day-to-day practices, Smith said.
“We stand ready to appeal and we feel pretty strongly about the outcome,” he said afterward.
Regardless of the fates of commissioners, questions about financial management at the Metropolitan Housing Alliance remain. The organization hasn’t completed an audit since 2018, and although the third-party business that completes its audits has asked for financial documents and information to be handed over, some pieces are still missing. And millions of dollars in “potentially disallowed” between the housing authority’s partner nonprofit, Central Arkansas Housing Corporation are in question.
