More bad news for the Sanford Housing Authority, the agency former executive director Tim Hudson turned into a federal disaster area before resigning two years ago.
According to a report by the federal Troubled Agency Recovery Center, which assumed jurisdiction of the 480-unit housing agency in May 2002, SHA executive director Audris Billberry and her staff were unfamiliar with federal-housing rules and regulations, and needed to improve their interpersonal skills. SHA employees were undertrained and performed in a “haphazard manner.” Full-time jobs had not been filled. Vacation schedules were not in synch. An audit was five months late. Money from the operating fund was spent to cover expenditures that a federal grant should have paid for. And a large number of apartments remain vacant.
The Troubled Agency Recovery Center also warned of impending sanctions against the SHA for poor administration of federal grants.
This article appears in Feb 19-25, 2003.