MOBILE, Ala. — According to AL.com, In a statement via one of his lawyers, ousted Mobile Housing Board Executive Director Stevens Gregory disputed the seriousness of local visits and reviews by HUD’s Office of the Inspector General.
Stevens Gregory
“This is a rather routine survey,” said the statement sent to the Press-Register by Edward Smith. “This is no formal investigation of the Housing Board.”
Housing Board members fired Gregory on Dec. 2, but he has appealed that decision to the Mobile County Personnel Board. The hearing is set for 9 a.m. Feb. 9.
The Housing Board’s “action to terminate Mr. Gregory at the start of a routine audit is regrettable. Any government agency as large as the Mobile Housing Board is subject to review, at any time, as a matter of practice,” the statement says.
Housing Board Chairman Clarence Ball disagreed with Gregory’s estimation of the situation, and said in an e-mail that Gregory “does not speak” for the board.
Ball said that the board “has new capable leadership in place to address the present state of its programs” and “is moving ahead and looks forward to completing all of the projects that have been marred by administrative problems and delays.”
The board provides subsidized housing and public housing communities in Mobile for thousands of low- to moderate-income tenants.
Prior to Gregory’s dismissal, board members had criticized him on a number of issues, and privately expressed dissatisfaction with the progress of several construction projects.
Also, sources close to the board told the Press-Register that Gregory’s relationship with a subordinate had led to project slowdowns and that Gregory had taken on some of the subordinate’s responsibilities.
One of the key projects in question has been the multi-phase HOPE VI revitalization effort to create mixed-income neighborhoods for families and seniors.
In the new statement, Gregory said that “a rapidly changing economy, unforeseen environmental conditions and successive changes in project developers” prompted him to obtain approval to amend HOPE VI from the Housing Board commissioners and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The revised plan met local housing needs, he explained, by decreasing the number of homeownership units and increasing the number of affordable rental units. More HERE
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