State comptroller 'examiners" visit Falls housing authority

Jun. 2—Representatives from the New York State Comptroller's Office have been on site at the headquarters of the Niagara Falls Housing Authority this week.

In response to a request for comment from the Niagara Gazette on Thursday, Jennifer Freeman, a spokesperson for New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli confirmed visits to the authority's office by what she described as "examiners" from her office. She declined to explain the reason or the nature of the visits.

"I can confirm we had examiners on site," Freeman said. "We have no additional comment at this time."

Clifford Scott, who serves as director of the city's housing authority as well as its community development office, said representatives from the state comptroller's office were performing an assessment of housing authority operations. Scott said during the agency's May 31 "entrance conference" with members of the state comptroller's team, it was conveyed to the authority that it was not a formal "audit."

"It's our understanding that the New York State Office of the State Comptroller performs assessments of public authority's around the state," Scott said in a statement issued in response to questions from the newspaper. "NFHA welcomes any feedback from the NY Office of the State Comptroller to improve how we deliver housing services to our residents in Niagara Falls."

The Niagara Gazette reported in March that Scott had been placed on leave pending a meeting of the authority's board. The newspaper also reported, following a 90-minute meeting behind closed doors in executive session on March 6 that Scott, who had been placed on leave on Feb. 21, would resume his duties as housing authority chief effective March 7, the day after the board meeting.

Scott indicated prior to the March board meeting that he was scheduled to meet with housing authority commissioners to discuss a variety of issues. In a statement issued prior to the meeting, he told the newspaper that the session would allow him to "outline my plans regarding improving communications throughout the agency, fostering more accountability with our workforce and for me as the executive director to receive feedback from the board on a better governance structure and environment."

Scott added that he looked forward to the discussion.

The authority's board of commissioner's took no formal action after the March 6 meeting, after which Chairman Larry Cook announced that Scott would be reinstated to his full-time duties as director.

"We didn't take any action (in executive session)," Cook said following the March 6 meeting. "We had a conversation on the issues at hand with our executive director, but no action was taken."

Executive session is a term that describes behind-closed meetings that can be held by governing bodies representing public entities under limited circumstances prescribed under state law.

While such sessions cannot be attended by media or members of the public who are not part of the governing body itself, a reporter for the Gazette who covered the March 6 meeting could hear part of the conversation during the private session and reported that several concerns were discussed, including those related to maintenance issues and alleged drug use on authority properties.

Speaking to a reporter after the March 6 executive session, Cook said the commissioners "understand their responsibilities" to the tenants of the city's public housing. He said the board wanted to be "responsive to the residents and the staff."

"The board's interest is to work with Cliff," Cook said at the time. "Our ultimate goal is to see him be successful."

The Buffalo News reported last month that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which oversees local housing authorities like the one in the Falls, gave passing grades to the city's management of Section 8 Management Assistance program housing vouchers and the Public Housing Assistance Program.

According to the News report, NFHA received an 80% grade following an assessment by HUD, which qualifies the authority as a "standard performer."

Scott told the Buffalo News that the agency performed very well in financial management, with a perfect score, but ranked low on physical inspections because it "did not have the ability to go in each unit and monitor how residents were living."

"I'm happy with that score," Scott told the Buffalo News. "Obviously, we're shooting and striving to do better."