BIG SPRING, TX — After last week’s special hearing called by Big Spring Mayor Shannon Thomason removed Margaret Cervantes as a Commissioner with the Big Spring Housing Authority (BSHA) for two charges of “Neglect of Duty”, Sharon Fritz, Executive Director of the BSHA, announced that she would be resigning from her position effective immediately. Big Spring Housing Authority provides housing assistance to low-income residents through the management of the area’s Housing Choice Voucher Program – Section 8. This program assists very low-income families, the elderly, and the disabled to afford decent, safe, and sanitary housing in the private market. It is income based and the eligibility guidelines are set by HUD, which is the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
On Friday afternoon, a quorum of freshly appointed BSHA Commissioners Bruce Brown, Royce Savory, and Melinda Stapp met to select an interim Executive Director. During public comments portion of the meeting, it was stated that the building in which the BSHA conducts its business, located at 201 NE 7th St. and owned by the Crossroads Housing Development Corporation (CDHC), had been re-keyed, and an agreement regarding key management would need to be signed. A disagreement about who has the authorization to have keys soon occurred between Commissioner Bruce Brown, and Anna and John Scott of CHDC. Ultimately, John Scott, Founder of CHDC, advised that the agreement is a standard landlord-tenant type of agreement, and if the BSHA refused to sign it then they would need to find a new office.
Brown stated that when Fritz had resigned, she left the BSHA keys with him and he didn’t think it was appropriate to return keys to CHDC when it’s the commissioners who would be hiring the new executive director. Brown went on to say that he was being accused of making copies of keys, but Anna Scott explained that the locks were changed as standard procedure just in case anyone had previously made a copy of the keys since the building houses sensitive personal financial documents. The public comment portion was closed and the commissioners went on to elect Bruce Brown as Chairman for the BSHA Board of Commissioners and appointed Sheila Johnson as interim Executive Director until a new person could be hired to fulfill the role.
(For more on the removal of BSHA Commissioner Margaret Cervantes, visit:
https://kbst.com/2022/01/11/big-spring-housing-authority-fails-in-oversight-of-director-and-in-complying-with-reporting-requirements/ )
(Photo: BSHA Commissioner and Chairman Bruce Brown leads the BSHA meeting on 01/14/22)
Comments