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Pastor Nominated To Housing Board

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By JOHN W. ALLMAN

jallman@tampatrib.com

Published: November 19, 2008

TAMPA - Two months after the Tampa Housing Authority evicted one of its board members, Mayor Pam Iorio has nominated a replacement.

Hersey Jackson, 52, a Pentecostal pastor and Chicago native, has been named to fill the seat formerly held by Karen Peoples, who was evicted after a protracted fight.

Jackson and wife have lived at the Arbors at Padgett Estates, a public housing property in South Tampa, since 2004.

The Tampa City Council is expected to vote on Jackson's appointment Thursday. If confirmed, Jackson would serve out the remainder of Peoples' term, which expires in June 2010.

"He'll be a tremendous asset to the board," Housing Authority President Jerome Ryans said Tuesday.

Ryans said he hopes Jackson, who moved in to subsidized housing after retiring and lives on a limited income, can help change public opinion of housing residents.

"I think he's going to be great for the image of public housing and do away with a lot of those perceptions that exist out there that are wrong," Ryans said. "What people are going to find out is residents of public housing are no different than any other person living in any community."

Jackson said people need to know that public housing has changed.

"We want to rid ourselves of that stigma of housing being full of riff-raff, downtrodden people and so forth," he said. "You can be an upstanding person and live in housing."

Peoples, who served for 10 years, was evicted in September and removed from the board for failing to comply with federal housing guidelines. She was living alone in a four-bedroom apartment and had refused three attempts by the authority to relocate her. She also had been cited twice for nonpayment of rent and once for failing a housekeeping inspection.

The seven-member authority board sets policy for the agency.

Reporter John W. Allman can be reached at (813) 259-7915.

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