Two of the longest-serving Chattanooga Housing Authority board members will complete another year as the board’s chairman and vice chairman.
Fellow board members and some CHA staff commended board Chairman Eddie Holmes and Vice Chairman Jim Sattler for their service. But some public housing residents say the board does not represent them or act in their interests.
“Really, the residents have no representation,” said Joe Clark, former president of the 250-unit Boynton Terrace Apartments, the housing authority’s largest senior high-rise building.
Chattanooga Housing Authority tileClark spoke Tuesday after the CHA board unanimously voted Holmes and Sattler to lead the board through the end of 2015.
The housing authority elects officers annually. And board members are reappointed after serving staggered five-year terms.
Instead of acting on behalf of public housing residents who need housing, Clark accused Sattler of acting on behalf of businesses when he pushed the sale of the Harriet Tubman housing development site.
Selling the site, the second-largest public housing development in Chattanooga, displaced some former Tubman residents, said Clark.
But Sattler said selling Tubman brought jobs to the community, money to the housing authority and helped to reduce crime in the neighborhood.
He commends the board and calls it one of the best boards in Chattanooga because of its diversity.
Nearly half of the seven-member board grew up in public housing. The board includes people with expertise in finance, law, accounting and education. All of that expertise is needed to operate the board, said Sattler.
Holmes said that in 2014 board members oversaw a $60 million annual budget, and the board needs people with expertise in housing policy, development and finance.
Clark also criticized Robinson, the only public housing resident on the CHA board, for not speaking up enough for residents.
After the board meeting Tuesday, several residents said they do have concerns, but that Robinson’s slogan is “Everything is OK at CHA.”
People at Dogwood are complaining because their elevators break down a lot. They are disabled and it’s hard for them to get up and down the stairs. The windows in some of their rooms don’t open so the ventilation is bad in their rooms when they cook. Residents need more time to read and understand the housing authority’s five-year plan. And residents want to give more input concerning how to spend funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Residents also want more help finding a job or getting the education needed to get a job, said Clark.
Robinson said residents have expressed concerns to her but when she advises them to attend the board meetings to represent their cause, they don’t come.
Holmes has served on the board since October 2006. He’s been chairman since December 2007.
Sattler was appointed to the board in 2005. He’s been vice chairman since December 2007. Both their terms end in 2016.
Contact staff writer Yolanda Putman at yputman@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6431.