City authorities vote to oust 2 real estate commissioners

VOTED OUT: The Little Rock Board of Directors voted to get rid of Leta Anthony (left) and Lee Lindsey from the real estate authority commission.
Brian Chilson

The Little Rock Board of Directors voted to eliminate 2 commissioners on the city's embattled housing authority at a Tuesday conference, and elected to let one commissioner remain on. Lee Lindsey and Leta Anthony were eliminated from the commission right away, while Kerry Wright can remain.

Lindsey and Anthony were represented by lawyer Sylvester Smith. Brian ChilsonIN THE CLEAR: City authorities voted for Commissioner Kerry Wright to hold constant in his position.
The vote to remove Lindsey and Anthony was split, 6 to 2. Directors Andrea Lewis and Ken Richardson opposed. Directors Antwan Phillips and Dean Kumpuris were absent.

City board members voted to keep Wright in place on a voice vote, although Richardson could be heard voting "present," which counts the like a "no.".
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After the votes, Lewis asked how the group could determine one member was okay to stay, while the others had to go. Richardson answered that he suspected "skin for the connection," because Lindsey and Anthony are Black while Wright is white..

Director Virgil Miller, who is also Black, disagreed. The space grew tense with murmurs from the crowd, and Mayor Frank Scott Jr. called the board to order.
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Tuesday's hearings came after the board of directors just recently prompted Scott to request the resignation of all housing commission members. The Little Rock city directors were responding to current revelations from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that consisted of a "struggling" designation and alleged misconduct within the housing authority.

But Lindsey, Anthony and Wright refused the mayor's request that they resign, deciding to attempt their luck in Tuesday's hearings rather.

Another Metropolitan Housing Authority commissioner, Branndii Peterson, accepted not look for reappointment when her term ends Sept. 30..

After the hearing, the lawyer representing Lindsey and Anthony informed reporters his next move will be to submit an appeal.
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Smith stated throughout his argument to the city board and Attorney Tom Carpenter that the treatment was inappropriate and did not permit due process.

Mary HenniganHEARING PROCESS: Attorney Sylvester Smith represents Commissioners Lee Lindsey and Leta Anthony.
" The city board made lots of errors, in my viewpoint," Smith stated. "Number one, they didn't allow my clients to affirm. They didn't enable us to call witnesses. They required us to choose in between my speaking for them or them promoting themselves without counsel.".

Smith stated he was required to show his customers were innocent, rather of the city showing they were guilty. Lindsey and Anthony do not have access to the financial files auditors state are still needed, Smith stated. That's due to the fact that the commission makes policy and keeps an eye on the executive director, but they do not handle day-to-day practices, Smith said.

" We stand all set to appeal and we feel quite strongly about the outcome," he stated afterward.

Regardless of the fates of commissioners, questions about financial management at the Metropolitan Housing Alliance stay. The company hasn't finished an audit given that 2018, and although the third-party organization that finishes its audits has requested monetary files and information to be handed over, some pieces are still missing. And countless dollars in "potentially disallowed" between the real estate authority's partner nonprofit, Central Arkansas Housing Corporation remain in question.