Peekskill Mayor Vivian McKenzie’s recent appointment to the Peekskill Housing Authority (PHA) may be short lived.
The U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) sent a letter to the housing board on Tuesday, Nov. 12, informing them the mayor sitting on the board was a violation of the conflict-of-interest provisions of the Department’s Public Housing program.
Last month City Manager Matt Alexander appointed McKenzie to the post to fill the remainder of Councilman Robert Scott’s term. However, during the public comment section of the Nov. 12 Common Council meeting, resident Lee Esther Brown pointed out that the appointment was apparently invalid due to the mayor being a landlord in Peekskill.
The PHA has seven commissioners as voting members of the board. Of those seven commissioners, two are tenant-elected – Yvette Houston and Dawn Benson – and five are appointed by the city manager to staggered five year terms.
According to Peekskill Housing Authority Executive Director Janneyn Phalen the housing authority was notified about the appointment, but the decision lies with the city manager. The criteria for an appointed commissioner is they must be a resident of Peekskill and also there can be no more than one member of an authority board who is an employee or an official of Peekskill at any one time, according to Phalen.
But Brown, a former PHA commissioner, told the Herald the mayor couldn’t assume the commissioner role due to a conflict of interest and being a landlord in the city of Peekskill who receives Section 8 rent.
“As a rule, the city is allowed to have a council person [on the housing board],” she said. “She’s a member of the council. Barring her being a landlord on Section 8, I wouldn’t have a problem with her decision, but it does give the air of conflict.” Brown noted there are PHA projects, such as the redevelopment and revitalization of Peekskill’s low-income housing, for which the mayor would face a conflict if she receives Section 8 rental income.
Brown encouraged the city to correct the error before the next housing authority meeting on Nov. 21 and before it found itself in a lawsuit. When confronted about the issue by Brown at the Nov. 12 meeting, City Manager Alexander took ownership, saying it was “entirely my mistake.”
“I am the person who thought she would be a good idea in the wake of losing Rob Scott on the housing authority,” Alexander told the Herald last Wednesday. “I did think that would be a good replacement because I know how much the mayor cares about affordable housing in the community.”
Alexander told the Herald on Wednesday that he had not yet responded to the letter from HUD. He added that he didn’t know if what Brown said about not being able to sit on the housing authority if you receive Section 8 rental income was true or not.
“I do not yet know for a fact that that reason is one that would exclude the mayor because I don’t know about the facts of the ownership of that property,” he said. “So I have to do more research on that.”
Tenant advocate Tina Volz-Bongar told the Herald the appointment of the mayor to the board resulted in her having a disagreement with the mayor. The two had different interpretations of the conflict of interest HUD rules.
“I told her she shouldn’t be sitting on the board,” Volz-Bongar said. “I said it’s a conflict of interest. She said, ‘No, it’s not.’ I said, ‘Well, I guess I’m going to have to do a lot of homework and I’m going to present a complaint to HUD, because it’s a conflict of interest.’”
According to HUD’s New York City Field Office Director Adam Glantz, Volz-Bongar’s complaint did not prompt the letter to the housing authority board.
“Never in the history of Peekskill have I seen a mayor sit down as a housing commissioner member,” Brown said.
Brown noted there are other council members who are eligible for the PHA, like Deputy Mayor Patricia Riley and Councilwoman Kathleen Talbot, who have not yet served. (Councilman Douglas has already fulfilled a term on the board.)
Volz-Bongar said she had an issue with the Common Council liaison being a voting member of the housing authority board because of conflict of interests and said she wanted a system that empowered tenants and advocates for tenants.
“HUD says in the handbook for Peekskill Housing Authority, we recommend that you do not, as a public official, have anything to do with the contracting process in the PHA,” she said. “That’s basically the conflict of interest, that the mayor should not.”
According to Glantz of the New York HUD office, the housing authority may request a waiver of those conflict-of-interest provisions within 30 days of HUD’s notice.
Mayor McKenzie did not respond to several requests for a comment.
Councilman Rob Scott’s exit as Peekskill Housing Authority commissioner
Councilman Rob Scott served two years of his five year term, which started in March 2023. Scott is under investigation for criminal charges for filing false election documents in April 2023.
At last Tuesday’s Common Council meeting, Scott told the Herald the reason for his exit from the PHA on Oct. 17 ultimately came down to scheduling.
“In a nutshell, [it was] just scheduling,” he said. “That’s all there really is. A conflict of schedule.”
Asked what that conflict was, Scott said, “I have a lot going on, I wear a lot of hats so it might have been a little too much.”
But according to tenant advocate Tina Volz-Bongar that wasn’t entirely the case.
“It is my understanding from the meeting and tenants that he was asked to step away because of his lack of participation with the board and with the community,” she said.
She added that according to HUD regulations you can’t sit on the board if you are under indictment. HUD’s Compliance Actions FAQ states that suspensions are imposed on individuals for a temporary period, pending the outcome of an investigation, an indictment or adequate evidence that supports claims of program violations.
City Manager Matt Alexander claimed the removal process was one he was not part of and happened with the housing authority.
However Peekskill Housing Authority Executive Director Janneyn Phalen said the opposite was true.
“The removal of a board member is done by the City Manager, not the Board,” she wrote in an email to the Herald.
City Manager Alexander did not respond for further comment as of press time.
