LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo — In the past several months, the Lee's Summit Housing Authority (LSHA) has been subject of a federal audit conducted by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
There have been accusations of former staff members shredding sensitive documents and complaints from property owners about late housing assistance payments.
Now, the housing authority is in the middle of a wave of resignations from the top down. The executive director left in September. Every board member followed last week.
While the city of Lee's Summit has no oversight of the housing authority since it is a federal agency, the mayor does appoint board members.
Lee's Summit Mayor Bill Baird accepted all of the resignations in a closed session Tuesday night. It's unclear why their decisions were all made at once.
KSHB 41 attempted to contact all of the board members. Only one volunteer shared what led to their departure.
"I appreciate their service — some of them had been on the board for decades," Baird said. "They just were in a tough situation and it was time for a reset and we're gonna reset."
In closed session, Baird also appointed one new board member, Heather McKinney.
McKinney, however, is unable to serve because she is not a resident of Lee's Summit.
"I'm working really hard to get them in a position to be taken care of," Baird said. "I am passionate about affordable housing. This is not easy for me. This is heartbreaking for me."
Tenants in the city's public housing have said they went to board members and a revolving door of executive directors for years about unhealthy living conditions and a lack of accountability.
Many of tenants felt ignored by leadership. They placed some blame on the mayor who appoints the board.
"I'm not the type of person to say, 'Oh, I don't have regrets,' because its just the opposite. I go over and over and over — 'Did I do it the right way? Did I give it my best?" Baird said. "We may not be over them, but we do want to help."
The mayor said the city is currently waiting for results of an on-site compliance audit at the housing authority conducted by HUD in October.
"We want to know what has happened," Baird said. "We don't have the ability to go in and look at their records; we don't have any oversight or any jurisdiction, but it's part of Lee's Summit."
A HUD spokesperson shared a statement with KSHB 41 about any investigations or reviews into LSHA.
"We are working to ensure all of the families we serve have access to the quality, affordable homes they deserve. From rooting out discrimination in housing to ensuring our nation's public housing stock are safe, quality places to live, HUD is working with the Lee's Summit Housing Authority to make sure these residents are well-served," the spokesperson said in a statement.
Beyond the recent issues, he acknowledged the housing authority has been on the city's radar for the past year.
"We do CDBG [Community Development Block Grant] funds and we were trying to get compliance," Baird said. "It was a tough decision, but we couldn't fund their next request because we couldn't get compliance. It's not a lot of money, but we had money for repairs and renovations."
The city of Lee's Summit posted the vacant board positions here. The mayor said they are searching for experienced applicants who live in the city.
They prefer applicants with government experience, skills working with state/federal funding, experience hiring an executive director for a nonprofit and people who care about affordable housing.
The new board members will be responsible for hiring a new executive director to replace the interim.
Baird hopes the process will be complete by the end of the year.
Editor's Note: This story has been updated with information that a person appointed to the board is not eligible to serve due to residency requirements.
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KSHB 41 reporter Alyssa Jackson covers portions of Johnson County, including neighborhoods in Overland Park, Shawnee and Mission. Share your story idea with Alyssa.
