Interim housing director resigns

Monday, May 2, 2005 | 10:47 a.m.

Patricia Sherwin Lucas, interim executive director of the Clark County Housing Authority, has stepped down from her position, leaving the agency without someone at the helm for the second time in a year.

The housing authority's annual operating expenses are $30 million. The agency helps about 4,100 low-income families in the valley obtain housing.

Sherwin Lucas took leadership of the agency last fall.

Fernando Romero, a board member of the authority, said she stepped down to pursue other opportunities. Her resignation will be effective May 11. Sherwin Lucas was not available for comment.

In a special meeting Wednesday, the authority's board will consider its next steps, including resuming the search for a permanent executive director.

Tim O'Callaghan, a recent appointee to the agency's board, said that "a round of candidates has been looked at and there wasn't anyone good enough."

"It's going to be a matter of urgency to get another permanent executive director soon," he said.

O'Callaghan is also a co-publisher of The News community newspapers.

At Wednesday's meeting, the board will also vote on hiring a consultant to take over the reins of the agency while a permanent executive director is chosen.

Romero said that Carl Rowe, a business consultant who led the Las Vegas Housing Authority from 1991 to 1994, is one of the people being mentioned as a candidate for the position of consultant.

When Rowe stepped down from that position, he criticized the public housing system in the press, saying, "Government housing is just not where it's at."

"I've seen the enemy," he said, "and he is us. To that degree I don't feel good any longer being a part of it. We're not advancing anything; we're simply treading water."