Pinskey back in housing position

The Baltimore Sun

Five years after he lost re-election as chairman of the Housing Authority of the City of Annapolis' Board of Commissioners, Howard Pinskey is back in the driver's seat.

The seven-member board voted unanimously Wednesday for Pinskey, a 10-year board member who led the group from 1998 to 2002 and later served as treasurer, saying he could provide stability to the troubled authority.

Pinskey said he and the board will continue to focus on the agency's mission of providing safe, quality homes to residents of 10 public housing communities by redeveloping the oldest buildings and curbing crime.

He will replace Trudy McFall in leading the board, which oversees the independent housing agency. She submitted her resignation as chairman last month. Under board bylaws, Pinskey said, the board must fill a vacant position within 30 days.

"I'm committed and involved with public housing," Pinskey said, "and when Trudy said she was going to retire, I said I would assume the position again."

McFall said Pinskey is "great" and will offer continuity to the board. "I think that he'll be a good leader," she said.

Mayor Ellen O. Moyer said Pinskey could be just what the agency needs.

"Howard's been around for a long time," Moyer said. "He knows the issues. He is a businessman. The housing authority is in rough shape right now."

This year, HACA received a score of 38 out of 100 from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the federal agency that provides its funding. Long waiting lists, failure to fix life-threatening maintenance problems and inconsistent rent calculation and income verification procedures were noted as factors.

Crime has troubled the communities, with the city government and police sparring over whether more policing is needed. This month, officers announced that they had arrested nine people on drug charges during a sting, mostly in public housing.

The city has also struggled to stop a sinkhole that over the past three years has consumed a large portion of parking outside the authority's Glenwood High-Rise for seniors and disabled people.

"It's a money issue, and we've been talking to the city," Pinskey said. "We tried to solve the problem ourselves, but the city said, 'Come back with a proposal,' and we are going to do that."

A critic said Pinskey will be just more of the same, neglecting the 1,100 units and 3,000 residents.

Robert Eades, a city activist, said HACA has failed to rehabilitate and beautify housing and accused them of trying to run low-income residents out of the city.

"Their goal is if you're living in public housing, and don't have a job, they want to put you out," Eades said. "Howard Pinskey is leading that march."

But defenders say Pinskey offers a sharp business acumen as an entrepreneur. Pinskey, whose term as chairman expires in January, lives in Eastport.

"I think Howard represents continuity," said authority Executive Director Eric Brown, whose contract was renewed Wednesday night through 2012. "I've worked with him since I've been here. I've found him to be a very solid and clear person, in terms of where he wants to go with things."

The board will see some changes: Moyer has named Betty Turner to replace McFall as a commissioner, but she has not filled the senior resident and resident positions.

sharahn.boykin@baltsun.com

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