CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Following a shakeup on the board of the Development Corporation and ongoing questions about that board’s operations, the Clarksville Housing Authority has rescinded the Development Corporation’s funding streams and removed its assets of nearly $700,000.

The money is going back to CHA so that it can be used for public housing redevelopment, said Wanda Allen, the new executive director of CHA.

How we got here

The Development Corporation was formed in August 2021 to handle public housing redevelopment on behalf of the CHA. It secured two major tax credits in the last year to begin the long-sought redevelopment of Lincoln Homes. Over the years, however, it has also entered into ongoing contracts with former interim CHA Executive Director Dawn Sanders-Garrett that have led to her making over $300,000 a year. Sanders-Garrett also served as a member of the Development Corporation board that approved her contracts.

In recent months, with Allen stepping in as the new executive director, the CHA board has been questioning the Development Corporation’s operations.

Last week, two members of the Development Corporation board resigned. The remaining board members appear to be Sanders-Garrett, Karey Daughtery, Calvin Lockett and Trina Hill. The Development Corporation board is separate from the CHA board, though it shares some members.

Funds and funding streams removed

In September 2021, CHA gave – technically “loaned” – the Development Corporation $1.5 million to be used for redevelopment and also established a funding stream, with 35% of CHA’s capital and unrestricted funds going to the Development Corporation.

On Wednesday, the CHA board voted unanimously to take back the remaining funds of $696,161. The money will be exclusively used for redevelopment. The CHA board also voted unanimously to remove the 35% funding stream.

“We need to be spending those dollars for our redevelopment right now as we’re moving through,” Allen said. “We’re going to ask for that money back so that we can have access to that money, because there are no account holders in the Clarksville Housing Authority on that account.”

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When asked later by Clarksville Now, Allen said the Development Corporation board met Wednesday. There appears to have been no public notice of that meeting. Public notice is required for all government and government affiliate meetings. Under state law, actions taken during meetings where public notice has not been provided are subject to nullification.

Clarksville Now has reached out to Lockett and Hill for comment.

At the end of Wednesday’s CHA board meeting, they went into closed session to hear advice from board attorney Brad Gilmore regarding “threatened legal action,” which is an exception under state law to the Open Meetings Act.

Moving forward on Lincoln Homes redevelopment

Allen began Wednesday’s meeting with a presentation on an aggressive plan to move forward with the redevelopment of Lincoln Homes, with a goal of turning over 51 units in the next 60 days.

The plan is to tear down and rebuild 107 units in Lincoln Homes. Allen’s multi-stage strategy will use assets across CHA to relocate families that are in the redevelopment area, moving them to 21 empty units inside Lincoln Homes and 38 empty units in Summit Heights. Several of the units will be remodeled prior to moving the families.

Of CHA’s total 510 units, 124 are currently empty, and Allen’s plan is get them filled or get them off the books. She said 12 units have been newly rented in the last month, and six more are coming. She said after that, they will hold off on new rentals until the existing Lincoln Homes residents are relocated.

Allen plans to have engineers inspect Lincoln Homes units to see if they are structurally unsound or otherwise uninhabitable and can be “taken off the books.” In those cases, CHA would then be able to request a rental voucher instead of the rental unit.

“We’re going to continue to do that until every home that we have is rented that we can rent now.”

There has also been a “very, very high” work order backlog across CHA, Allen said. She has tackled that situation and said the maintenance team has completed over 250 work orders since last month.

Public meetings are planned with the Lincoln Homes residents to keep them informed on the timeline of the moves and how relocations will be handled.

Correction: The Development Board met Wednesday. The article has been updated.

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