{"id":20902,"date":"2014-01-20T15:28:21","date_gmt":"2014-01-20T20:28:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/raleighpublicrecord.org\/?p=20902"},"modified":"2014-01-20T15:28:21","modified_gmt":"2014-01-20T20:28:21","slug":"explainer-understanding-the-raleigh-housing-authority-controversy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/news\/2014\/01\/20\/explainer-understanding-the-raleigh-housing-authority-controversy\/","title":{"rendered":"Explainer: Understanding the Raleigh Housing Authority Controversy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Raleigh Housing Authority has come under scrutiny recently as new outlets reported on salary and compensatory time given to its executive director Steve Beam.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Controversy<\/strong><br \/>\nIn December, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.midtownraleighnews.com\/2013\/12\/27\/3487736\/housing-authoritys-pay-perks-raise.html\" target=\"_blank\">the News &amp; Observer reported<\/a> that Raleigh Housing Authority Executive Director Steve Beam makes $240,000 per year plus benefits, allowances and bonuses. All told, his annual compensation is about $280,000.<\/p>\n<p>The N&amp;O also reported that on top of his annual vacation and sick days, Beam also used compensatory time, which he accrues when he works more than a 7.5-hour workday and on the weekends. In total, the paper reported that Beam took off 54 days in 2009, 2011 and 2012.<\/p>\n<p>Beam reportedly uses his time off to pursue his side business and hobby as a magician specializing in card tricks.<\/p>\n<p>Beam is responsible for operations of the housing authority, which has a $50 million budget, a voucher program and housing communities that it owns and maintains.<\/p>\n<p>Last week U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and U.S. Rep. George Holding, both Republicans, announced they wanted a federal investigation into the Raleigh Housing Authority and Beam\u2019s time off.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Beam\u2019s Story<\/strong><br \/>\nBeam has been with the housing authority for 28 years, serving as its executive director for almost 18, he said. He served with another housing authority for six years prior to coming to Raleigh.<\/p>\n<p>As executive director, Beam manages daily operations and the development arm of the agency.<\/p>\n<p>When Beam took over in 1996, he said the housing authority was in disarray, with multiple pending lawsuits, completely vacant properties, a Department of Justice investigation and properties in substandard condition. In 1992, there were two deaths at Walnut Terrace that were attributed to carbon monoxide poisoning.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe were essentially broke,\u201d he told the Record.<\/p>\n<p>Beam said the city loaned the agency money to fix a broken boiler and awarded grants for regular maintenance.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"module align-right half type-aside\"><strong>Salary Comparisons<\/strong><br \/>\nAfter a 2010 HUD salary survey, Congress limited the amount that federal money could be used toward executive salaries to $155,500. Anything beyond that must come from other sources.<\/p>\n<p>Steve Beam, director of the Raleigh Housing Authority: $280,000.<\/p>\n<p>Renee Glover, CEO of the Atlanta Housing Authority: $312,500 in 2010.<\/p>\n<p>Charles Woodyard, CEO of the Chicago Housing Authority: $248,400 in 2012<\/p>\n<p>Tina Akers Brown, Director of the Greensboro Housing Authority: $242,000 in 2012.<\/p>\n<p>A. Fulton Meachem, Jr., President and CEO of the Charlotte Housing Authority: $195,000 in 2012<br \/>\n<\/aside>\n<p>&nbsp;\u201cWhen you look at that,\u201d he said, \u201cI don\u2019t think anyone in their right mind would want to step into that circumstance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Beam said he saw the time commitment that was going to be involved in turning things around. Rather than taking a raise, he negotiated for comp time, he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI took what was important to me,\u201d he said. \u201cWe came to agreement based upon the conditions at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Beam said his comp time makes up for hours spent working late during the week and on the weekends. When he is away from the office, he said, he\u2019s often answering work-related email and making work-related calls.<\/p>\n<p>He didn\u2019t take comp time during the first few years of his current position, but once conditions improved, he began taking time off in accordance with his contract.<\/p>\n<p>Beam has been given raises since his initial contract was negotiated.<br \/>\n<strong><br \/>\nBoard Supports Director, but Questions Surround Board Terms<\/strong><br \/>\n\u201cThe salary, we feel, is appropriate for what Steve has done,\u201d said current Raleigh Housing Authority Board of Directors Chair Kyle Dilday.<\/p>\n<p>Dilday said that Beam\u2019s contract is evaluated each year. The board uses salary surveys in the public and private sector and considers Beam\u2019s length of service as factors in his evaluation.<\/p>\n<p>The board has continued to adhere to the comp time standards that were laid out in Beam\u2019s original contract. Dilday added that Beam spends a lot of time on boards, committees and commissions that often meet on weekends, which he said has benefited the Raleigh Housing Authority.<\/p>\n<p>As far as what Beam does with his time off, Dilday said that\u2019s his business.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo one should care what he does with his personal time so long as it doesn\u2019t take away from his job,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>This week the board convened to consider possible changes to that contract; Dilday said Beam is willing to negotiate something that works for everyone.<\/p>\n<p>The board itself has come under some scrutiny, particularly from Raleigh City Councilors. Some board members have been serving for almost 20 years. The N&amp;O also reported that members seem to give Beam blanket approval, barely questioning his decisions.<\/p>\n<p>The mayor is responsible for appointing people to the seven-member board of directors for five-year terms.<\/p>\n<p>There are no term limits, which means members can continue to be reappointed.<\/p>\n<p>Dilday has been serving on the board for eight years. Doris Wrench has been on the board the longest, having first been appointed in 1995. George Dail is not far behind, having been first appointed in 1996. Mike Penick and Thomas Bradshaw\u2019s terms will end this year in August and April, respectively.<\/p>\n<p>Dilday said that in the past the board has discussed term limits several times, but has opted to stay away from it because it takes a long time for new board members to get up to speed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe do have pretty good diversity between the older and the newer members,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He said that the mayor always has the option of not reappointing a member and appointing a new person once a term is over.<br \/>\n<strong><br \/>\nCity Involvement, or Lack Thereof<\/strong><br \/>\nAllison Hapgood, a spokesperson for the housing authority, said the Raleigh Housing Authority is a state-chartered municipality. This means that it isn\u2019t run by any specific government entity. A port authority or airport authority are similar organizations.<\/p>\n<p>Because the state charted the authority to be its own free-standing entity, the City of Raleigh isn\u2019t involved in the day-to-day operations at all and doesn\u2019t have any oversight capabilities.<\/p>\n<p>Legally, the city doesn\u2019t have any involvement with the housing authority aside from appointing members to the board. That responsibility rests solely with the mayor and not the rest of the City Council.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey work with Community Development sometimes, but for the most part it\u2019s federally funded and I appoint the board members,\u201d said Mayor Nancy McFarlane.<\/p>\n<p>McFarlane said she knows the board has been meeting regularly to handle some of the concerns that have been reported. As far as Beam\u2019s comp time, McFarlane said that as she understands it, the board has been living up to the contract. The question for the board though, she said is, \u201cDo you feel the contract is in line with what should be going on?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The full City Council will be getting a report at its next meeting Tuesday where some of these discussions will be brought to light.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What Does the Raleigh Housing Authority Do?<\/strong><br \/>\nThe Raleigh Housing Authority is responsible for administering housing for low-income families in two ways: Through properties that are owned, managed and maintained by the authority and the Housing Choice Voucher Program, most commonly known as Section 8.<\/p>\n<p>There are 1,372 public housing units and 3,869 units in the voucher program.<\/p>\n<p>The voucher program provides vouchers to those who wish to find housing in the private market. The housing authority pays the landlord directly while the tenant pays for the utilities.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/news\/2013\/11\/11\/raleighs-affordable-housing-landlords-affected-by-federal-cuts\/\" target=\"_blank\">Learn more about how federal cuts are affecting this program<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Hapgood said that 95 percent of the authority\u2019s $50 million budget comes from the federal government through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). HUD has a contractual agreement with housing authorities to provide funding based on federal regulations. HUD can recapture the funding if they weren\u2019t used properly or in a timely manner.<\/p>\n<p>The other 5 percent comes from tenant rents, rooftop leases and other small sources.<\/p>\n<p>Instead of paying property taxes to the city, the authority makes an annual payment in lieu of taxes of about $300,000.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We break down the controversy that surrounds the Raleigh Housing Authority, its executive director&#8217;s salary and how the city is, or isn&#8217;t, involved. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24029,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15],"tags":[1463,1534],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20902"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24029"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20902\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}