Tuesday, July 2, 2002 | 11:03 a.m.
Brown services
Memorial services for Frederick Brown:
Funeral and burial services:
In lieu of flowers, the Las Vegas Housing Authority has established the Frederick A. Brown Memorial Scholarship Fund to assist public housing/ Section 8 high school graduates in achieving a college education. You may contribute to this cause by contacting Wells Fargo Bank, account number 8433905604, routing number 32127074.
Still reeling from news of the death of the executive director of the Las Vegas Housing Authority, residents on Monday lashed out against two board members who they say contributed to the unexpected death of Frederick Brown.
Beatrice Turner, a community activist, exploded in a fit of rage against board members Dewain Steadman and Simhan Iyengar, blaming them for Brown's death from apparent heart failure last week.
She warned them not to attend memorial services scheduled for Wednesday at Zion Methodist Church.
"These two clowns better not come down to the church," Turner said. "They don't have no respect for our community. If they want to see Mr. Brown they better go on the plane and fly to Philadelphia," where Brown will be buried next week.
"You killed Mr. Brown," she told them.
The controversy that dogged the housing authority in recent months under the leadership of Brown spilled into Monday's board meeting. The board members were scheduled to discuss how to proceed with a search for a new executive director, but delayed a decision until the board's July 15 meeting.
The controversy continues even after Brown's death as the board looks for a replacement who can help mend the fractured relationship between board members and some residents.
While most of the fierce words were exchanged between residents, board member Chris Hoye, a Metro Police lieutenant, also had words for the critics who he said turned on Brown, executive director since 1994. Hoye would not name the critics.
"I've never seen a person who worked so hard to be villainized by the people who were supposed to be helping him," he said.
Several board members say they don't expect closure until the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development completes its investigation into contracts Brown approved with outside consultants, including congressional candidate Dario Herrera.
Brown signed an $84,000 public affairs contract with Tribeca Media and Herrera Communications Group that came under fire when board members questioned the need for such a contract and how Herrera, chairman of the Clark County Commission, got a piece of it.
"Brown took a lot of heat," Hoye said. "And a lot of it was justified -- he's the boss. But a great deal of it was unjustified, and personal. He would agonize over things that were said. Those things killed this man. He took it very personally."
Fists were nearly flying between Turner and Amelia Coulston, who filed an ethics complaint against Brown, before a security guard attempted to separate the two. Other residents began yelling at Coulsten and her friends, warning them not to attend memorial services for Brown.
Steadman, who filed a complaint with the FBI, said he had considered attending the memorial services for Brown, but after the confrontation with Turner he decided otherwise. He said the criticism of him was unfair.
"If doing my job as being the longest-serving commissioner on the board does not give me the right to ask questions, then I am ineffective as a board member," he said. "I had no control over Mr. Brown, or what happened to him."
Brown's assistant director, Parviz Ghadiri, will serve as acting executive director until a replacement is named.
At the board's next meeting, the members are expected to discuss whether to conduct a national search for a replacement or to proceed from within.
According to the board bylaws, Article 13, until a replacement is found, the board cannot appoint an acting executive director other than Ghadiri.
"In the absence or incapacity of the executive director, or in the event of his/her resignation or death, the deputy executive director shall perform his/ her duties until such time as the board shall appoint a new executive director," according to the bylaws.
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