Friday, Aug. 25, 2006 | 7:21 a.m.
A North Las Vegas Housing Authority official has resigned after he was discovered living in one of the affordable homes he supervised, federal and local officials said.
Charles Brimmer, property manager for public housing since last fall, resigned Aug. 18 after the agency discovered the ruse. Brimmer and his wife, whose name was on the lease, may also soon be evicted, said Don England, the authority's chief executive .
The three-bedroom house rented for $650 a month and was meant for people earning about half of the $50,000-$60,000 annual salary that Brimmer was paid.
"Clearly, public housing is not intended for people who don't qualify, and in particular we are going to act where housing authority employees take advantage of violating rules," said Larry Bush, spokesman for the federal Housing and Urban Development Department.
The situation was brought to light after an anonymous tipster contacted the federal agency's inspector general. The house in question was part of a federally subsidized program that Brimmer supervised called HOME. His responsibilities also included overseeing 120 apartments for low-income seniors and 98 units of public housing.
There is a waiting list for the type of house he was living in, but England said he didn't know how many names were on that list. Affordable housing is among the valley's top needs, according to a task force formed to study growth that published its findings last year.
It is the second time a HUD inspector general has lowered the boom on local housing authorities in as many months. In late July, a report showed that the Las Vegas Housing Authority didn't follow federal rules in handing out contracts, and the agency's two top executives resigned shortly afterward.
England said the federal agency told him about the situation and then he confronted Brimmer, who denied the allegations. Several weeks later, England said, "I got solid evidence that he was not being straightforward - that he hadn't been truthful."
Brimmer's then-fiancee signed the lease for the property July 1, and the couple married July 4, England said.
The couple were given until 4 p.m. Thursday to amend the house's lease and include Brimmer's name, England said. "Now, if he's no longer an employee and doesn't have a job, he might qualify."
By 3:30 p.m., however, the couple hadn't turned in any paperwork, England said; so the agency may begin the eviction process today.
England said he didn't know what Brimmer's motivation was: "He was running the program and should have known."
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