Chairman McDonald has confidence of board

Diana Sahagun

Wednesday, July 10, 2002 | 11:01 a.m.

Michael McDonald's love-hate relationship with the Las Vegas Housing Authority came full circle last month, when the city councilman who once asked for a major overhaul of the agency was handed the reins to become the leader of the board.

It's a change for the councilman, who had little confidence in the agency in 2000, when he asked to be appointed to the board and called for a full audit after hearing allegations of crime in senior housing facilities.

As the new board chairman, and having run his first meeting nearly two weeks ago, McDonald knows his appointment couldn't be more timely. The board is trying to find a new executive director and heal wounds brought about by former executive director Frederick Brown's death.

Still, McDonald has the confidence of the board, which unanimously appointed him board chairman last month.

"I think he has the capability of being an excellent board chairman," said board member Dewain Steadman. "He's got the challenge of finding a new executive director -- and that's going to be a challenge. And he's got to divorce himself from being a politician in order to be a board member with the housing authority as No. 1 (priority)."

The City Council has no direct authority over the city's public housing agency, and the board members oversee the agency and are appointed by the mayor.

McDonald said Brown addressed his concerns, and said he hasn't had any major gripes since.

"Brown immediately took care of all my major issues," McDonald said. "The concerns I initially had with the seniors were large concerns, but we were able to address those issues and maintain and raise the level of security in other areas."

Brown earlier this year came under fire after board members learned he had signed an $84,000 public affairs contract with Tribeca Media and Herrera Communications Group. Members questioned the need for such a contract and how Dario Herrera, chairman of the Clark County Commission, got a piece of it.

An audit review by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is ongoing.

Brown died June 28 of apparent heart failure.

The board is scheduled to decide at its Monday meeting how to proceed with finding a replacement. Parviz Ghadiri is serving as acting executive director. Board members are split over whether there should be a national search to find a replacement or if someone inside the organization could take on the role.

Some residents, though, are still fuming over the way they say Brown was treated in the months leading up to his death. Emotions exploded at a recent board meeting, when several residents warned critics not to attend Brown's memorial services.

McDonald acknowledged that he has hurdles ahead of him and said he hopes to curb the kind of problems uncovered by the board members relating to the public relations contract by opening up the lines of communication and emphasizing existing policy.

"There needs to be a policy, or check and balances," McDonald said. "I have a policy and procedure outlook on that."

McDonald has other ideas as board chairman, including rotating where meetings are held to make them more accessible to residents, encouraging more outreach programs and having more computers for seniors.

"There are many challenges we face and I'm up to those challenges," McDonald said.

Steadman, who was chairman in 2000, said he ran an effective board because he would not tolerate any name-calling or outbursts by residents. He had three security guards on staff during the meetings.

"I set the stage right off the bat," he said.

His advice to McDonald was to control meetings in a similar way, so things run smoothly.

Board member Chris Hoye, a Metro Police lieutenant, said McDonald needs to be able to handle the stress that comes with the job, but said he has faith in the councilman as chairman.

"He's going to do a great job," Hoye said. "He has experience running a meeting and he's plugged into the mayor's office, and he'll get things done."