East St. Louis official seeks top housing job as feds raise questions about hiring process

City Manager Robert Betts has applied to be executive director of the troubled East St. Louis Public Housing Authority in a hiring process that has drawn scrutiny from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to documents and emails obtained by the BND.

At one point, Betts was improperly offered the job without approval from the housing authority’s board of commissioners, but the board rescinded it after a top HUD official raised multiple questions about it, emails and records show.

Betts told the BND recently that he is eminently qualified for the director’s post, but added he had no knowledge that he was being considered.

“I know nothing about that right now,” Betts said.

After a reporter told Betts that the BND knew he had applied, he responded: “That’s a personnel matter, I am not discussing that,” and later said “I am exploring some options.”

The senior city official’s candidacy, reported here publicly for the first time, is the latest controversy involving the troubled East St. Louis Housing Authority.

Among others: The authority has had four major leadership changes since mid-2023. An authority director, an acting director and an interim director, plus a former Board of Commissioners chair, have left their posts for various reasons.

Now the East St. Louis Housing Board of Commissioners is looking for a new executive director, but in recent weeks its new chair, Daphne Brown Wright, has recused herself from the process after William O. Dawson III, director of the Chicago regional office of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, challenged her involvement.

Brown Wright did not return phone calls seeking comment for this article. Dawson declined to comment for this story.

HUD official challenges hiring process

Betts is one of six people who are scheduled to be interviewed for the position by authority commissioners, according to a Feb. 6 e-mail from the East St. Louis Housing Authority’s lawyer, Barney Mundorf, to Dawson. Forty-four people applied for the position.

In a series of e-mails obtained by the BND, Dawson has raised questions about the the selection process and possible conflicts of interest.

The first e-mail followed Betts’ Dec. 29 letter to Dawson asking for a waiver or exception to HUD rules governing conflicts of interest so that as a city official, Betts could be considered for the position.

In his letter, Betts acknowledged that he serves as city manager for the city of East St. Louis and has applied for the job as executive director.

“According to HUD regulations and under federal law, certain factors associated with potential employment as a contract employee may give rise to a perceived conflict of interest and should be disclosed,” Betts said.

Betts also pointed out that a conflict of interest may be waived for good cause, if permitted under state and local law.

Betts cited the terminations of executive and interim executives at the housing aujthority as a reason for an “unnecessary delay in fulfilling the mission of providing safe, decent, and affordable housing in a severely underserved and impoverished community”.

He called the situation at the housing authority a crisis and stated how his hiring would be a ``good cause.’’

“My experience with the existing problems of the HA and familiarity with the city of East St. Louis’ demographics and ability to navigate through the challenging environment uniquely qualifies as a good cause,” Betts wrote.

“I am a dynamic and results-oriented professional with a proven track record of strategic leadership, project management, property management, public policy government operations, and community engagement,” he wrote.

In a Dec. 29 e-mail responding to Betts’ waiver request, Dawson wrote: “Unfortunately HUD may not consider this request from any other entity except the Board of Commissioners of the Housing Authority of East St. Louis.”

Dawson’s e-mail, quoting from HUD regulations, stated it’s up to the East St. Louis Housing Authority to disclose, in writing, potential conflicts of interest to HUD. The email was copied to East St. Louis City Attorney John Baricevic and Mayor Charles Powell. The two officials did not respond to calls from a BND reporter seeking comment.

Later, Betts was offered the executive director position without board approval, according to information included in a Jan. 30 email Dawson sent to Wright, other board members, and Mundorf. The BND has also obtained an unsigned letter to Betts, dated Jan. 26, that states ``On behalf of the East St. Louis Housing Authority, I am pleased to extend to you the offer of employment for the Executive Director.” The offer is on authority letterhead and includes a Swansea address for Betts.

Here’s how Dawson put it in his Jan. 30 email: “On Friday, January 26, 2024, on or about 4:30 p.m., you (Ms. Brown Wright) and I spoke and I inquired as to whether the Board of Commissioners of the HAESL had extended an offer of employment to current East St. Louis City Manager Robert Betts, the senior appointed public official in the City of East St. Louis, and you stated, “yes we have extended Mr. Betts an offer for the Executive Director position and he has accepted.”

Board chair defends her actions in hiring process

Dawson went on to question why Brown Wright contradicted herself in a Jan. 29 letter. Brown Wright stated in the letter, addressed to Dawson, that Betts had not been offered the position.

``The ESLHA has not extended an offer of employment to Mr. Betts, as that can only be done at a lawfully convened board meeting,” the Jan. 29 letter states. “We have expressed to Mr. Betts he is our top candidate, but he has not, as of today’s date, been extended an offer of employment.’’

She stated she did send Betts a letter confirming he was the top choice for executive director, contingent on background and drug checks and a final contract, ``which must be approved by the Board of Commissioners to be a binding employment offer.”

Dawson also challenged Brown Wright’s involvement in the selection process, stating in a Jan. 30 e-mail “it has come to our attention that you (Ms. Daphne Brown Wright) are or may be a City employee of the City of East St. Louis, working in a capacity that is directly or indirectly subordinate to City Manager Robert Betts.”

He went on to say if that is true, she should recuse herself from the selection process and rescind any ``offer letters, letter of interest, et al sent by you germane to the recruitment of City Manager Robert Betts as the Executive Director of the HAESL, tentative or otherwise.”

On Feb. 5, the East St. Louis Housing Authority Board of Commissioners held a closed session to discuss the executive director hiring process. Brown Wright recused herself at the start and left the meeting, according to a Feb. 6 e-mail from Mundorf to Dawson. She will not be involved in the selection process, Mundorf’s e-mail states.

“The remaining Commissioners agreed to send Mr. Betts a letter to confirm his offer of employment as the Executive Director was sent to him premature and is revoked,” the e-mail states. “ As you know, only the Board of Commissioners, by a majority vote at a properly convened meeting, can employee an Executive Director.

“ Because the Board did not meet and did not vote to extend Mr. Betts an offer of employment, the letter extending the offer of employment is not legally binding and was premature.”

When asked by a reporter, Mundorf would say little about the information included in the e-mails and letters obtained by the BND.

“I don’t have any information about that,” he said. “I know the Board of Commissioners is continuing the search process. No one has been appointed.”