By Christina Veiga
cveiga@MiamiHerald.com
There was the bombshell federal report that blasted financial mismanagement. There were sexual harassment complaints. Allegations of conflicts of interest. Evictions.
Oscar Hentschel’s first year at the helm of the Homestead Housing Authority was a rocky one. On Tuesday, board members gave their first evaluation of the agency’s leader.
Board members had mostly good things to say about their director’s performance: Two said he has done an “outstanding” job. One said Hentschel is “fully capable,” and another said he “significantly exceeds expectations.”
Board Chairwoman Audelia Martinez, however, said the director “needs improvement.” The last board member, Lois Jones, Hentschel’s most vocal critic from the beginning, called for his removal and leveled more claims of incompetence against him.
Jones has said she will not attend more meetings in protest of Hentschel’s leadership. She wasn’t there Tuesday. Instead she sent her comments in a letter.
There was no talk Tuesday of giving Hentschel a raise — the board had previously floated the idea of boosting his $90,000 salary by $35,000. That’s after a $20,000 salary bump the board gave him within months of being hired.
Despite the controversy, there has been some progress.
Hentschel often points to the previous administration as the source of many of the housing authority’s woes. The housing authority gets about $20 million from the U.S. departments of Agriculture and Housing and Urban Development to provide housing for farm workers and rental assistance to low-income renters. The federal government attaches many strings to the money.
Under Hentschel’s leadership, the authority has worked to bring the housing units it manages into federal compliance, in part by hiring an outside management company. He has found accounting errors made in the past, and saved the authority money in part by renegotiating contracts for garbage collection, security and employee benefit packages.
Hentschel also said Tuesday that the USDA has released a $3 million bond it had frozen while investigating the authority’s finances. The money is to build new farm-worker housing.
Hentschel was not present for his evaluation and, reached by phone Wednesday, declined to comment.
“He has done tremendous work for the housing authority,” said Board Member Arturo De Leon. “I’m very, very pleased.”
Here’s a look back on Hentschel’s first year as executive director of the housing authority:
• March 2011: Hentschel is hired from a pool of candidates despite having no relevant experience in public housing.
• May 2011: Board members raise Hentschel’s salary by $20,000.
• August 2011: Board members float the idea of giving Hentschel another $35,000 raise, but ultimately decide against it. Board member Jones questions apparent business ties between the director and another board member, as well as possible personal relationships with other board members, saying there could be conflicts of interest.
• September 2011: The USDA indefinitely postpones the closing of a $3 million bond as the authority’s finances are probed.
• October 2011: Allegations are made public that two employees have accused Hentschel of sexual harassment. A private investigator, hired by the board, found that one of the women recanted, saying she was put up to the complaint by the other. The investigator rejected the other complaint because the complainant refused to talk with her, but the matter is still pending with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Jones said. The complainant was fired.
• November 2011: The USDA releases a report blasting the authority for letting units fall into disrepair while providing employees with cushy paychecks and perks.
• December 2011: In an effort to address issues cited in the USDA report, the authority moves to evict some tenants who don’t qualify for subsidized housing but have nonetheless been approved for assistance in the past by housing authority staff.
• March 2012: Board members vote to hand over control of the authority’s farm-worker housing units to a third-party management company — something the USDA required because the authority was so poorly managed.
Follow @Cveiga on Twitter.
Oscar Hentschel’s first year at the helm of the Homestead Housing Authority was a rocky one. On Tuesday, board members gave their first evaluation of the agency’s leader.
Board members had mostly good things to say about their director’s performance: Two said he has done an “outstanding” job. One said Hentschel is “fully capable,” and another said he “significantly exceeds expectations.”
Board Chairwoman Audelia Martinez, however, said the director “needs improvement.” The last board member, Lois Jones, Hentschel’s most vocal critic from the beginning, called for his removal and leveled more claims of incompetence against him.
Jones has said she will not attend more meetings in protest of Hentschel’s leadership. She wasn’t there Tuesday. Instead she sent her comments in a letter.
There was no talk Tuesday of giving Hentschel a raise — the board had previously floated the idea of boosting his $90,000 salary by $35,000. That’s after a $20,000 salary bump the board gave him within months of being hired.
Despite the controversy, there has been some progress.
Hentschel often points to the previous administration as the source of many of the housing authority’s woes. The housing authority gets about $20 million from the U.S. departments of Agriculture and Housing and Urban Development to provide housing for farm workers and rental assistance to low-income renters. The federal government attaches many strings to the money.
Under Hentschel’s leadership, the authority has worked to bring the housing units it manages into federal compliance, in part by hiring an outside management company. He has found accounting errors made in the past, and saved the authority money in part by renegotiating contracts for garbage collection, security and employee benefit packages.
Hentschel also said Tuesday that the USDA has released a $3 million bond it had frozen while investigating the authority’s finances. The money is to build new farm-worker housing.
Hentschel was not present for his evaluation and, reached by phone Wednesday, declined to comment.
“He has done tremendous work for the housing authority,” said Board Member Arturo De Leon. “I’m very, very pleased.”
Here’s a look back on Hentschel’s first year as executive director of the housing authority:
• March 2011: Hentschel is hired from a pool of candidates despite having no relevant experience in public housing.
• May 2011: Board members raise Hentschel’s salary by $20,000.
• August 2011: Board members float the idea of giving Hentschel another $35,000 raise, but ultimately decide against it. Board member Jones questions apparent business ties between the director and another board member, as well as possible personal relationships with other board members, saying there could be conflicts of interest.
• September 2011: The USDA indefinitely postpones the closing of a $3 million bond as the authority’s finances are probed.
• October 2011: Allegations are made public that two employees have accused Hentschel of sexual harassment. A private investigator, hired by the board, found that one of the women recanted, saying she was put up to the complaint by the other. The investigator rejected the other complaint because the complainant refused to talk with her, but the matter is still pending with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Jones said. The complainant was fired.
• November 2011: The USDA releases a report blasting the authority for letting units fall into disrepair while providing employees with cushy paychecks and perks.
• December 2011: In an effort to address issues cited in the USDA report, the authority moves to evict some tenants who don’t qualify for subsidized housing but have nonetheless been approved for assistance in the past by housing authority staff.
• March 2012: Board members vote to hand over control of the authority’s farm-worker housing units to a third-party management company — something the USDA required because the authority was so poorly managed.
Follow @Cveiga on Twitter.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/05/30/2824347/homestead-housing-chief-gets-mostly.html#storylink=cpy
Jimmie L. Williams 
