McDonald demands thorough audit of housing authority

Erin Neff

Thursday, Feb. 17, 2000 | 11:14 a.m.

Amid allegations that crime in a senior housing facility is being left unchecked, City Councilman Michael McDonald on Wednesday angrily called for a full audit and reform of the Las Vegas Housing Authority.

"This is not a witch hunt," a swollen-faced McDonald said through clenched teeth. "Our seniors are being put in situations that they should not be put in."

McDonald, who is suffering an allergic reaction to dental work last week, appeared briefly at the meeting just to address the issue, which was hoisted to the top of the agenda for his benefit.

Housing Authority Chairman Dewain Steadman and Executive Director Frederick Brown were asked to address McDonald's concerns, which were based solely on a recent television news report. McDonald asked them to speak first.

"I don't know what is happening at Sartini Plaza," Steadman said. "If this was a lease violation or a policy breaker, we should have been apprised of it."

Steadman said the "buck stops here," and asked the council to better communicate its concerns about public housing.

Brown said the Housing Authority only had the chance to respond "due to the news."

But their reports and the apparent support for the Housing Authority by seniors in the audience only further angered McDonald, who barked: "I can stack the audience, too."

"We cannot put senior citizens in a situation where they're held hostage," McDonald said. "What this is, is a wake-up call."

McDonald sponsors bingo games and pays for prizes such as televisions, radios and microwave ovens out of unspent campaign contributions. He said that a female resident at Arthur Sartini Plaza asked one of his staff members to bring the television she won to her room for fear she would be kidnapped and forced to turn it over.

McDonald said his staff member was accosted by a large man. However, McDonald did not specify why or what the exact problem at Sartini is.

In April 1998, Sartini residents were largely split over an election to a resident board many said was simply the arm of the Housing Authority. At the time, the Sun reported that residents lived in fear of each other based on who supported the Housing Authority and who did not.

McDonald held up a Polaroid snapshot at Wednesday's meeting showing the burned door of an apartment belonging to a woman who questioned the Housing Authority.

"I would like to see a full investigation, a full audit of the Housing Authority," McDonald said.

He also asked that council members again be appointed to the authority's board of directors to oversee that entity more closely.

Currently, the mayor appoints board members, who then oversee the authority with no additional direction from the council.

"I ask to be put on the Housing Authority," McDonald said. "Put myself on there."

Former Mayor Jan Laverty Jones and former Councilman Frank Hawkins sat on the Housing Authority board in the wake of scandal in the mid-1990s.

The council directed City Manager Virginia Valentine to report what options the city has to gain more input on public housing issues.

Brown said he was surprised by the concern because he met just last week with three council members who made no mention of problems with senior housing.

Valentine said she would report back to the council March 1 with options including new appointments to the authority board or possible removal of current members.

Erin Neff covers Las Vegas government for the Sun. She can be reached at (702) 259-4062 or 229-6436, or by e-mail at erin@lasvegassun.com