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Housing Authority Official Lashes Out At Tribune Article

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By JOHN W. ALLMAN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 17, 2008

TAMPA - Tampa Housing Authority commissioner Karen Peoples arrived late Wednesday morning for what may have been her last board meeting.

Peoples stormed into the meeting nearly 90 minutes after it began. She threw her purse loudly onto the dais and clutched a copy of The Tampa Tribune in her hand.

The Tribune reported Wednesday that the authority sent Peoples an eviction notice this week. Her case likely will go to court to determine whether she should be removed from her apartment at C. Blythe Andrews, a north Tampa housing property.

Peoples said she will write a letter explaining her situation to the board by next month, but the effort may be an empty gesture.

Jerome Ryans, housing president, said the authority isn't backing down.

"I'm through with it," he said after the meeting. "This is the last week I'm dealing with it."

Peoples has been in violation of housing guidelines since November 2007. She lives by herself in a four-bedroom apartment and has defied multiple offers to move to a smaller apartment, per federal Department of Housing and Urban Development regulations.

Since January 2007, she also has been cited twice for nonpayment of rent and once for failing a housekeeping inspection.

The Tribune also reported on Peoples' efforts in recent months to discredit the authority by making false allegations of professional and sexual misconduct against two employees, including her former property manager.

Peoples lashed out at the newspaper from her commissioner's chair.

"Whoever was responsible for this article, may God be with you when the time comes," she said. "This was not necessary."

Peoples said she plans to write a letter to the six other housing commissioners and hand it out at the August board meeting. She said she expected them to respond by the September meeting.

She may no longer be on the board at that time.

Her case will go to court in early August. If she is forced by a judge to vacate her apartment, she immediately forfeits her seat on the board.

Peoples could request a grievance hearing to dispute the eviction, but housing vice president Leroy Moore said it likely wouldn't help.

"There's nothing we know of now that would compel her to be granted an exception," he said this week.

4 Bedrooms Can House 8

Peoples has lived in public housing since 1984. She was appointed in 1998 to be a voice on the board for other housing tenants. Officials say she is well-versed in the authority's policies and has exploited them to remain in her four-bedroom unit.

The authority has more than 200 people on a waiting list at C. Blythe Andrews who qualify for a four-bedroom apartment. It's not uncommon for as many as eight people to live in a four-bedroom.

Peoples has lived alone since May 2007. In the past year, she has paid as much as $248 and as little as $26 in rent, according to housing documents. Her rent is calculated against her reported income.

Housing commissioners showed little sympathy Wednesday.

"We believe the rules should be enforced fairly for everybody," board chairwoman Hazel Harvey said.

Board member Lansing Scriven said commissioners must hold themselves to a higher standard.

"Our conduct should be beyond reproach," he said.

Peoples spoke on just one other issue during the meeting: She chided Margaret Jones, the authority's assisted housing director, on behalf of a resident who Peoples said lives in a substandard Section 8 apartment. Jones said the apartment has passed multiple inspections.

"Listen to me please," Peoples said, interrupting Jones. "Thank you, dear. I'm discussing the landlord."

Peoples said the landlord should be removed for not following federal Section 8 guidelines.

Peoples Will Not Discuss Eviction

After the meeting, Peoples stood behind the dais and spoke loudly to another authority official about her situation. She compared herself to a slave being whipped and said she needs to be respected "like other commissioners are respected."

When approached by a reporter, she refused to speak about the eviction. Instead, she yelled at the reporter, calling Wednesday's story "a pack of lies."

The Tribune tried to contact Peoples multiple times for comment prior to publishing its story. On Monday, a woman claiming to be Peoples' daughter answered the phone and said Peoples was not available.

Peoples said Wednesday that the woman wasn't her daughter. "It was me," she said, before telling the reporter never to call her again.

Peoples blames her former property manager, Sharaun McClain, who tried to make Peoples comply with federal guidelines.

Wednesday's story described how, in February, Peoples prompted an internal investigation of McClain by presenting the authority with a petition that outlined 15 allegations of professional and sexual misconduct by McClain.

None of the allegations was found to be true.

Then, in March, Peoples traveled 36 miles to Lakeland to speak directly to McClain's husband, Scott. He said in a notarized statement to the authority that Peoples told him his wife was trying to have a baby with two maintenance workers and a resident's son.

Sharaun McClain filed a formal complaint against Peoples a day later.

"That's why I came to the meeting. Ain't nothing I'm trying to dodge," Peoples shouted as she left the authority's office. "The article is all about the manager and her hang-ups."

Reporter John W. Allman can be reached at (813) 259-7915 or jallman@tampatrib.com.

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