Notes from Pearl River Development Club, November 7, 2013 Subject: Planned New Home Construction and Board Member Appointments Although this subject was not on the agenda, Eric Willis-Director of Choctaw Housing Authority, was accommodating enough to take some questions by club members. He told us there will be 41 new home construction, but unfortunately NONE is slotted for Pearl River Community. The bulk of the new homes will be constructed in Bogue Chitto Community, approx 30 homes, 5 to Crystal Ridge, 3 to Bogue Homa and 3 to Standing Pine. Mr Willis told club members that he operates under a 5 year housing plan adopted by Housing Authority Board Members and it was approved last year. We will need to see the full 5 year plan to see how Pearl River Community fits into this plan. Currently, all board members are or were council members at the time of appointment. The Chief nominates a member for appointment and Tribal Council confirms the appointment. However, there is no HUD rules that require these positions to be filled by a Tribal Council member. Therefore, at the next appointment coming up in January 2015, we will be encouraging Chief Anderson to work with the Development Clubs in the nomination process for appointing a new board member for Bogue Chitto (currently Ronnie Henry) ; Pearl River (currently Lola Parkerson) and Crystal Ridge (currently Ann Wesley) communities. Since the positions are filled by the very same people that would need to perform OVERSIGHT responsibility, How are they going to call attention to decisions made by them as a board member and answer to themselves as part of the Tribal Council Body? It is impossible, this situation creates conflict of interest on the part of the board members which is one of the main reasons complaints and frustrations of the people are not being addressed or solved. People are not satisfied on how the Housing Authority has been operating, so if Chief Anderson takes this advice to reform the Choctaw Housing Authority it would be a small step toward the kind of historic changes we want to see accomplished by a historic leader. Note: Chief Anderson nominated and Tribal Council confirmed the appointment of Robert Briscoe to represent Bogue Homa, Greg Shoemake to represent Conehatta and Richard Isaac to represent Red Water on January 8, 2013 to serve for a 4 year term.
Posted on: Fri, 08 Nov 2013 19:04:18 +0000
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