LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — On Tuesday, the Little Rock directors and Mayor Frank Scott Jr. decided to initiate the process to remove the housing authority board.
The Metropolitan Housing Alliance is under scrutiny after a recent report from U.S. Housing and Urban Development detailed issues that dated back years.
Scott began the meeting by saying he met with HUD earlier that day. Their conversation mentioned several issues regarding the Little Rock housing authority, including financial reports that had not been submitted since 2019.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars were flagged that were mishandled or unaccounted for.
Little Rock City Attorney Tom Carpenter recommended that the board of directors decide quickly what needs to be done next to fix this situation.
Carpenter said the HUD report is "damning," and he has no answers on where the unaccounted money is.
Several directors agreed that the mayor should ask for the resignation of the five board members of the Metropolitan Housing Alliance.
"If we have folks who want to do the right thing, the easiest thing for them to do is resign effective immediately," Director Lance Hines said.
Scott will send letters to those board members on Wednesday asking for their resignation. If they decide not to resign, they will have a public hearing in 10 days to speak on the issue.
HUD told the mayor they could take action themselves if there isn't a new housing authority board within the month.
We contacted the board members for comment and have not heard back from them.