Housing not-for-profit dives in on complex claim against the city of Little Rock

ALL SET FOR COURT: Attorney Rickey Hicks heads into Judge Cara Connor's courtroom. Former housing commissioners Lee Lindsey and Leta Anthony sit behind him.
Brian Chilson

A not-for-profit spin-off of Little Rock's Metropolitan Housing Alliance will join in a suit between ousted housing authority commissioners and the city of Little Rock.

A circuit court judge decided Thursday to permit the nonprofit Central Arkansas Housing Corporation to jump in on the case expected to identify whether the Little Rock City Board of Directors acted appropriately in getting rid of Leta Anthony and Lee Lindsey from their positions on the housing commission. The 2 were removed from the commission in September amidst allegations of messy accounting, stopped working audits and misplaced funds.

Thursday's decision from Judge Cara Connors is a small step in ongoing legal procedures over the operation of the Metropolitan Housing Alliance, an organization charged with administering federal subsidized real estate and housing assistance to low-income individuals and families in Little Rock.

Sylvester Smith, who is representing the 2 previous commissioners, told Connors he did not oppose the motion to allow the not-for-profit to intervene. The nonprofit was developed by the Metropolitan Housing Alliance in 2006 to "help with the advancement, financing and building of multi-family and single-family residential housing," according to the real estate authority site.
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Brian ChilsonCOURT HEARING: Attorney Sylvester Smith (left) litigates with Lee Lindsey and Leta Anthony.
City Attorney Tom Carpenter, nevertheless, said the not-for-profit didn't have a place in the case.

Eventually, Connors granted the movement to step in and stated the bylaws of each entity basically mention the very same people are conducting the exact same duties. The companies are inherently connected to each other, she said.
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Lawyer Rickey Hicks represented the Central Arkansas Housing Corporation Thursday and fielded concerns from the judge about who is suing who. Is the Central Arkansas Housing Corporation suing the Metropolitan Housing Alliance-- aka itself? Hicks stated the answer was yes. Hicks argued because the housing authority does not have anybody on the commission who lives in subsidized real estate-- a federal requirement-- they are in violation of federal policy and therefore acting illegally. The decisions they've made, including removing Anthony and Lindsey from the board of directors at the nonprofit, should not stand, he stated.

Brian ChilsonREADY TO GO: Attorney Rickey Hicks waits to enter the courtroom.
The next hearing in the case has actually not yet been scheduled.