Officials this week held a ribbon cutting, opening a new $38.8 million, 100-unit housing development in Southwest Philadelphia — hailing the new Paschall Village as the key to revitalizing the neighborhood.

“This is not about bricks and mortar; it’s about souls and lives,” said state Sen. Anthony Williams, at Wednesday’s ribbon cutting.

The new homes, built by the Philadelphia Housing Authority between Paschall and Woodland Avenue at 72nd Street, boast a number of green and sustainable features including: geothermal heating and cooling, solar hot water, solar panels, a rainwater irrigation system and ENERGY STAR appliances.

But, Williams and the other speakers hailed the development not so much for its architecture, cutting edge technology or amenities — but for its power to transform the surrounding neighborhood of Southwest Philly. The new village replaced a barracks-like slab of a housing project, built in 1966, that was renowned as a hub of crime until it was demolished in 2009.

“It was an antiquated, drug- and crime-infested area,” remembered Council president Anna C. Verna, who represents the Southwest, adding that the old 223-unit project riddled with courtyards and narrow alleys made a perfect hideout for criminals — and particularly dangerous for police.

In the months before the old complex was torn down, between January and April 2009, police said there were 11 murders and 15 rapes within a half-mile of the complex. It was so notorious for drug activity that in 2006 federal agents descended on the complex and arrested 22 people.

There was no evidence of that history this week.

The new houses are laid out in several neat rows and a new street, an extension of Saybrook Avenue, divided the block. At the corner of 72nd and Paschall, a new 4,000 square-foot community center, complete with computer center, anchored the village. New street lights and trees lined the streets.

Verna hoped the new homes will provide the catalyst for change.

“I see today as a great opportunity,” she said. “This is just the beginning.”

Williams, who lives just a few miles from the development, had even stronger words for new residents, and exhorted his new neighbors to resist letting the development again become a safe harbor for drugs and crime.

“We have a beginning here. I want us — the people, the neighbors — to reclaim our dignity, our humanity, our compassion,” he said, adding that new residents needed to tell anyone inclined to push the neighborhood backwards: “You’re not bringing that drama back to my neighborhood.”

The new complex has 12 one-bedroom, 52 two-bedroom and 36 three-bedroom units and 20 handicapped accessible units. All have off-street parking.

“The housing authority has come through again,” said resident liaison Nellie Reynolds. “But, you have to make it a home. We can’t do that for you. Do it with pride. Do it with love.”

The development has already won the 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania Award — and PHA director Michael Kelly expects it to win more.

“It is a shining example of PHA’s commitment to building green, energy-efficient, sustainable developments,” Kelly said. “We intend to be a leader and set an example in this field.”

Last month, PHA opened another green development, Mantua Court, in West Philadelphia. The $28.1 million, 101-unit public housing development replaced Mantua Hall, a notorious 18-story tower at 35th Street and Fairmount Avenue.

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African Americans could benefit from the Philadelphia Housing Authority’s recent decision to end its practice of hiring provisional workers.

While Interim Director Kelvin Jeremiah made it clear that the decision to eliminate the practice was purely financial, it could pry open the city’s trade unions to Black workers — largely because Jeremiah plans to enforce the agency’s requirement that employees live in the city.

“I am mindful of the fact that by having the requirement that we have … and that by so doing we could have more African Americans, Blacks and browns, minorities getting union positions in the city. I think that’s an added benefit,” said Jeremiah.

Despite the possibility of pressure from the city’s politically influential trade unions, Jeremiah said he would rigorously enforce the residency requirement.

“The requirement for residency is not one I’m willing to waive,” he said, adding that provisional workers who choose to make the change to permanent PHA employees would be given six months to move into the city.

“If they, for whatever reason, choose not to, that means they will not be a PHA employee,” he said.

Earlier this week, Jeremiah told the Tribune that he planned to lay off 335 provisional workers. They are union workers initially hired on a temporary basis, some of whom, under former director Carle Greene, stayed as long as a decade. They will all be laid off effective Sept. 1. \

According to Jeremiah, 225 may then be rehired as permanent PHA employees, provided they meet PHA standards — which includes the residency requirement. Though he lacked hard numbers, Jeremiah estimated that roughly 50 percent of them lived outside the city limits.

Whether the move will actually open union ranks to African Americans remains to be seen.

Provisional employees who are laid off on Sept. 1 will have the opportunity to return to their jobs as in-house employees at PHA.

“So, it depends on what the unions want to do with replacing those guys,” he said. “We want to work with them. Our job is not to destroy the unions.”

Jeremiah said most of the city’s trade unions have been open to the change, realizing that PHA could not continue to pay the roughly $10 million extra in benefit costs caused by the arrangement.

So far, Jeremiah said, the majority of the city’s trade unions have embraced the idea, with the exception of the carpenters’ union — the Metropolitan Regional Council of Carpenters

of Philadelphia & Vicinity.

“They want to see if [I] will go ahead and lay off 335 employees,” he said. “I would bet on … me.”

Carpenters union business manager Edward C. Coryell did not return several calls this week seeking comment. Sam Staten Jr., president of the Laborer’s Union, Local 332, could not be reached for comment either.

“With the other unions, I was amazed,” said Jeremiah. “I surprised by the willingness of the union leadership to cooperate. They understand the impact on the agency.

The plan, part of a larger reform agenda, has the support of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

“We know that change doesn’t sit well with everyone,” said HUD spokesman Jerry Brown. “But, the things that we’ve seen have been fair thus far. There has to be changes made to the PHA, that’s why it’s under receivership, to right the ship.”

The move to eliminate provisional workers will allow the agency to cut its benefit costs, in most cases by as much as 49 percent.

As an example, Jeremiah pointed to the agreement with the carpenters’ union, where, between April 2011 and April 2012, 21 “in-house” carpenters cost PHA $1.3 million in wages and an additional $547,000 in benefits — a 42 percent wage to benefit ratio. For 91 provisional carpenters, the agency paid out a $6.1 million in wages and $5.4 million in benefits — a ratio of 89.2 percent. Those additional benefit costs were paid directly to the unions.

By converting those employees from provisional to in-house, PHA stands to save about $3 million annually.

In total, PHA has spent $28 million over the last year on provisional employees — $15 million in wages and $13 million in benefits. The total savings in converting them to in-house employees is expected to be around $10 million annually.

In the late 1990s, Greene apparently reached a deal with the city’s major trade unions that established the practice of using provisional employees to bolster PHA staff for short periods when extra help was needed.

“Greene had some arrangements with the various unions, to provide laborers … to come to PHA in an effort to augment PHA staff,” Jeremiah said. “The benefit was that we would have skilled laborers working at PHA.”

However, the concept was soon perverted. It remained in place under Greene’s successor Michael Kelly, who left the agency in June under the cloud of his own scandal.

Jeremiah said the move was just a part of a larger reform agenda he would be implementing over the next few months.

“PHA has had a culture of splurge, of excess,” he said. “I’m going to [cut] across the agency until I’m confident that we’re not wasteful in the resources that we have.”

Contact staff writer Eric Mayes at (215) 893-5742 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

While slain civil rights leader Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. often dreamed that his nonviolent crusade would lead to racial equality, he also envisioned the arrival of housing and economic fairness that would lead the downtrodden out of sub-human living conditions.

If alive to see the transformation of the decrepit Hawthorne Square housing project and its immediate surroundings, King himself would be proud.

That was the overriding sentiment when city and housing officials on Wednesday unveiled a plaque at 13th and Fitzwater streets, renaming the vicinity Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza. Symbolically, the renaming of the plaza brings to a close at least one of the chapters of public housing in the city; planners decided to name the new plaza after King to memorialize his famous visit here in 1965, when he addressed hundreds of Hawthorne residents and demanded fair and equal housing for them.

“We continue to feel the ripple effects of the Fair Housing Act of 1968, which was a direct result” of King’s work in that arena, said Philadelphia Housing Authority Commissioner Karen Newton Cole. “So it is really important that, moving forward, we commemorate what Martin Luther King did, especially as it relates to housing.”

King visited what was then known as Hawthorne Square for a two-day visit, August 2–3, 1965, and more than an estimated 2,300 people gathered on that corner to hear him speak. In 1970, longtime politician James Tayoun — then the councilman for the district that included Hawthorne Square — petitioned PHA to change its name. Tayoun was also one of the earlier supporters of King’s visit to Philadelphia — a notion that wasn’t all too popular at the time.

“We are standing on hallowed ground,” the veteran politician said, joining the ranks of Council members Jannie Blackwell and Kenyatta Johnson — who grew up in the neighborhood — who made stirring remarks about the neighborhood’s transformation. “It’s hallowed because I remember the faces of the young men and women who died here because they couldn’t get affordable housing. It’s my pleasure to have a small part in his role here.”

PHA Administrative Receiver and Executive Director Michael P. Kelly echoed the sentiment of many when he said that Dr. King, “on this spot, held a rally that addressed economic injustice and housing for the poor. Those ideas are still valid today.”

The negative impact of the housing policy to warehouse the very poor in high-rise dwellings that lack the necessary social infrastructure cannot be overstated. Dr. William Tucker, president of the Philadelphia MLK Center for Nonviolence said King should be commended for bringing attention to the housing disparity, noting that the late leader spoke out when authorities began “substituting horizontal slums with vertical slums,” Tucker said. “Now, Philadelphia is ahead of the curve in eliminating housing projects.”

Mayor Nutter, Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers and a host of other city and state politicians also praised the works of King. The dedication also commemorates the 40th anniversary of his assassination.

MLK Plaza joins Martin Luther King Jr. Drive as two of the city’s most prominent renaming initiatives, and joins a nationwide trend of cities embracing King with major renaming moves. CNN reported that more than 900 cities have streets named after King, and Memphis, Tennessee — where King was slain while on the balcony of a downtown hotel — is finally dealing with its past and renaming a one-mile stretch of Linden Avenue in King’s honor.

Departing, Blackwell was reminded of King’s overriding compassion.

“Nothing is more important when we think of Dr. Martin Luther King than love,” Blackwell said. “During a time when people were deathly afraid, King stood up for them, and loved them.”

Contact staff writer Damon C. Williams at (215) 893-5745 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

In a move that is expected to save the embattled Philadelphia Housing Authority roughly $10 million a year — and slaughter a cash cow for some of the city’s powerful trade unions — the agency’s interim director is eliminating the PHA practice of hiring “provisional employees.”

“I recognize that it’s going to make a lot of people uncomfortable. I understand that,” said Kelvin Jeremiah, interim director of PHA. “But, I remain undeterred. For me to continue to do that would have been derelict, financial suicide.”

Jeremiah told The Tribune in an exclusive interview Wednesday morning that he planned to eliminate the longtime agency hiring practice of using provisional employees, intended to be temporary, who were then allowed to stay on for years, more than doubling PHA’s benefit costs.

Under current practice, employees hired to work at PHA, some for periods as short as three months, have stayed for more than 10 years.

“It’s unheard of,” said Jeremiah.

At the moment, the PHA has 335 provisional employees, but they will all be laid off effective Sept. 1. According to Jeremiah, 225 may then be rehired as permanent PHA employees, provided they meet PHA hiring standards — which includes a requirement that they reside in the city, a move that will allow the agency to cut its benefit costs by as much as 49 percent for that group.

As an example, Jeremiah pointed to the agreement with the carpenters’ union where between April 2011 and April 2012, its 21 “in-house” carpenters cost PHA $1.3 million in wages and an additional $547,000 in benefits — a 40 percent wage to benefit ratio. For 91 provisional carpenters, the agency paid out $6.1 million in wages and $5.4 million in benefits — a wage to benefit ratio of 89.2 percent. Those additional benefit costs were paid directly to the unions.

By converting those employees from provisional to in-house, PHA stands to save about $3 million annually.

In total, PHA has spent $28 million over the last year on provisional employees — $15 million in wages and $13 million in benefits. The total savings in converting them to in-house employees is expected to be around $10 million annually.

So far, Jeremiah said, the majority of the city’s trade unions have embraced the idea, with the exception of the carpenters’ union — the Metropolitan Regional Council of Carpenters 

of Philadelphia & Vicinity.

“They want to see if [I] will go ahead and lay off 335 employees,” he said. “I would bet on … me.”

Carpenters union business manager Edward C. Coryell could not be reached for immediate comment on Wednesday.

“With the other unions, I was amazed,” said Jeremiah. “I was surprised by the willingness of the union leadership to cooperate. They understand the impact on the agency.

Jeremiah said he was uncertain exactly when the practice of allowing provisional employees to linger on the payroll started, but he estimated that it was at least 10 years ago, during the reign of former housing czar Carl Greene, who was fired two years ago amid a far ranging sex and financial scandal that is still playing out in court.

In the late 1990s, Greene apparently reached a deal with the city’s major trade unions that established the practice of using provisional employees to bolster PHA staff for short periods when extra help was needed.

“Greene had some arrangements with the various unions, to provide laborers … to come to PHA in an effort to augment PHA staff,” said Jeremiah. “The benefit was that we would have skilled laborers working at PHA.”

However, as with many other practices under Greene, the concept was soon perverted. It remained in place under Greene’s successor Michael Kelly, who left the agency in June under the cloud of his own scandal.

Jeremiah said the move was just a part of a larger reform agenda he would be implementing over the next few months.

“PHA has had a culture of splurge, of excess,” he said. “I’m going to [cut] across the agency until I’m confident that we’re not wasteful in the resources that we have.”

To comment, contact staff writer Eric Mayes at 215-893-5742 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Michael P. Kelly, administrative receiver of the Philadelphia Housing Authority, resigned Friday, which he said is due to family responsibilities.

“Franky, I’ve been thinking about this for a while,” Kelly told the Tribune Friday afternoon. “Believe me, it has nothing to do with politics, or with the public officials and the citizens of Philadelphia. Mayor Nutter has been very gracious, and I’ve had positive experiences with city council. I’m thankful for my time here in Philadelphia, and I’m grateful for the opportunity. The Tribune has been especially gracious and fair with us, and I really appreciate the support we’ve gotten from the community.”

Pressed on the reason for his resignation, Kelly said he won’t elaborate, but promises more information next week.

“It really was a personal, painful decision for family reasons,” he said. “I know that sounds like a typical politician’s line, but it happens to be true.”

Karen Newton-Cole of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development accepted Kelly’s resignation Friday during the monthly board meeting.

Additionally, HUD announced that Estelle Richman, a senior adviser to the HUD secretary, would replace Cole and return to her role as the one-person authority board commissioner and receiver. Richman served as the PHA board when HUD took control over the agency last year.

“It has been my pleasure to serve you as the commissioner of the Philadelphia Housing Authority,” Cole said.

Kelvin Jeremiah, PHA’s current director of audit and compliance, was appointed by Cole to be the provisional executive director of PHA. Janea Jordan will have Jeremiah’s position.

“We are going to launch a national search in terms of identifying an executive director,” Cole said.  

While at the helm of PHA, Kelly was credited for many sweeping reforms. He re-established the Office of General Counsel — which manages PHA’s legal affairs, and he created the Office of Internal Audit and Compliance to ensure business transitions were compliant.

Kelly headed PHA’s Transition Plan — which aims to establish a culture of respect, accountability and transparency at the agency. A zero tolerance policy was instituted, and employees were held to new ethic policies and procedures.

Under Kelly, PHA reached a new contract agreement with Building and Construction Trades Council regarding workers pensions. He is also given credit to his ability to maintain focus and provide uninterrupted service at PHA during the Greene controversy.

In 2008, accusations of sexual harassment against PHA director Carl Greene surfaced. Greene was fired in September 2010 after the board of directors discovered that Greene used approximately $900,000 of federal funding for multiple harassment settlements.

Using his architecture, urban planning and 30-year housing authority experience from other cities like San Francisco, New Orleans and Washington, D.C., Kelly arrived to PHA in December of 2010 in the midst of the internal turmoil.

As the interim executive director, Kelly was on loan to PHA from the New York City Housing Authority, based on agreements that he serve both roles while maintaining duties as general manger of NYCHA. It wasn’t until August 2011 that Kelly was named permanent executive director at PHA.

HUD asked the five-member PHA board to quit, thus gaining control of the agency. Philadelphia City Council member Jannie Blackwell, Philadelphia AFL-CIO President Pat Eiding, Debra Brady, wife of U.S. Rep. Bob Brady (D., Pa.), tenant leader Nellie Reynolds, and former Philadelphia mayor John Street eventually stepped down from the board.

“Mr. Kelly came to PHA at a very difficult time and he immediately focused on getting back to basics in property management and resident services and making PHA accountable and transparent in business practices,” Richman said in a press release. “We will miss his energy and his ability to connect with the community.”

“I do love this work,” Kelly said. “I do love this housing authority. I do love the residents that I have been honored to serve. I love the colleagues that I had an honor to serve with.”

It’s been a year since the federal takeover of the Philadelphia Housing Authority and reform efforts are nearly completed — setting the stage for a return to local control, said Michael Kelly, executive director and federal receiver.

“Things are going good,” Kelly said. “Accountability and transparency are key words.”

Kelly, who steered PHA through the darkest days of its turnaround, is in the midst of a sort of goodwill tour on the anniversary of a takeover by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Last month, the city, PHA and HUD signed a yearlong cooperation agreement that leaves the beleaguered agency under federal control — essentially Kelly and Commissioner Karen Newton-Cole — for another year.

Though the agreement has a one-year term, Kelly said it could be terminated before that, which he expects.

“I think it will be less than a year,” he said, noting that federal and internal audits of the agency are substantially complete, except for audits of legal expenses, the release of which has been blocked in court by former director Carl Greene. “Only a court can [release them] and it’s still tied up within Carl Greene’s other lawsuits as well. When that gets resolved, this other domino could probably fall.”

Greene has a wrongful termination suit pending. A judge is expected to hear it within the next three months.

PHA has undergone a radical restructuring in the 18 months since Greene’s firing in August 2010 and the subsequent resignation of the board the following spring.

Kelly ran through a list of changes that directly addressed concerns raised by the Greene scandal. PHA has created its own legal department and hired a general counsel attorney, eliminating the use of outside attorneys, a practice established by Greene.

“We are not dependent on outside counsel at this point,” he said.

It created its own human resources department. Under Greene, there wasn’t one.

An audit department has been created to conduct annual internal audits. Greene refused to open the agencies’ books.

Kelly said the housing agency has also put new procurement and contract rules and procedures in place. In addition, PHA has restructured its budgeting procedures and moved to make sure its subsidiaries are operating legitimately.

The lion’s share of reform is done, Kelly said. But, the federal government is unlikely to hand control back to the city until the investigations, audits and lawsuits that surrounded Greene are concluded, and the state has voted on a new governance proposal now in the legislature.

“We need to see how all that plays out,” he said.

As HUD looks to cede control back to the city, Kelly added that he hoped to wait until new commissioners could be trained for their new role.

“It’s not good enough just to name these folks,” he said. “It’s important to have a rigorous training period so that when the keys do get turned back, they get turned back to folks who know what their responsibilities are so the executive director can’t pull one over on them — or they can’t do things that are outside the box.”

Meanwhile, Kelly is focusing on the future, improving the quality of life for tenants and helping them prepare to enter “the real world.”

PHA, which provides housing for 80,000 people, has a waiting list of 100,000 families.

“We’ve got a responsibility to provide the tools to these families to better compete in the private market,” he said. “So that apartment is available to people who are having a tougher time competing in the private market.”

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Fifty new officers are being added to the Philadelphia Housing Authority’s police force, officials announced Thursday — more than doubling the size of the force over the next year.

The expanded force is part of a shift in the agency’s policing — a move to community policing.

“This is an initiative that we believe is responsive to the many complaints and issues that have been raised by our residents over the last few months regarding safety and security,” said the agency’s interim director, Kelvin Jeremiah. “One of the things I’ve been hearing since I came to PHA is: ‘We need more police officers. Crime is on the increase. We’re concerned about our safety.’”

With the additional officers, the total number of full-time police officers on the force will rise from 28 to 78. New officers could appear in just a few weeks.

Jeremiah said the agency expected the larger force to cost between $5 million and $6 million a year. He said that by ending contracts with three private security firms, contracted with the agency to the tune of $30 million, the agency will be able to cover those costs. In addition to expanding its police force, PHA plans to spend $8.5 million to add security cameras and access controls at its properties.

The decision to expand the force came after PHA conducted a resident survey “that was alarming to us,” Jeremiah said.

“Most folks who responded are concerned about their safety,” he said. “We have a fundamental obligation to provide for the safety and security of our residents.”

Complaints ranged from robbery, assault, and drugs to gun violence.

According to PHA Police Department Chief Ben Walton, the authority will change the way it deploys new officers.

PHA is adopting a community policing model, meaning that police officers will patrol the same areas in an effort to get to know residents — and the patterns and habits of the area they patrol — in an effort to curtail crime.

Officers will patrol all PHA developments — but with a special emphasis on Norman Blumberg Apartments, Hill Creek Apartments, Raymond Rosen Manor, Wilson Park, Westpark Plaza and Abbottsford Homes.

“We picked the five developments that have the most problems. They’ll be there every day,” he said. “That’s where the trust factor comes into play.”

Walton lauded the change, noting that PHA police officers have the same powers that city police officers do, something that private security guards lack.

“These officers will have the powers of arrest,” he said, adding that they also have greater powers when it comes to investigations.

This will also strengthen the relationship with local city police, Walton said, “We want a relationship with the residents - and the Philly PD.”

All of the new officers will be members of the housing authority’s police union. The union and the authority have been at odds for years. In April, the police union signed a new contract after years of confrontation.

The additional officers pleased union officials.

“The union is very excited about this move,” said Angela Rice-Warthen, president of the Fraternal Order of Housing Police. “We’re here to serve our residents. Our morale is up, too.”

News of the hiring was the latest of several changes announced since Jeremiah took the helm in June after former director Michael Kelly resigned in the wake of the news that he was having an affair with a subordinate.

He had followed long-time director Carl Greene, who was forced out in 2010 amid charges of financial misconduct and serial sexual harassment.

To comment, contact staff writer Eric Mayes at (215) 893-5742 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Agency tries to avoid layoffs through buyout program

Faced with Congressional funding cuts, the Philadelphia Housing Authority has to cut 100 jobs under a new $386.3 million budget approved Friday.

PHA is faced with a $24.5 million cut from Congressional cuts to the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s budget. The federal government provides 93 percent of PHA’s funding. In addition to cuts to the agency’s capital and operating funds, the federal government has cut Housing Choice Voucher fees by 24 percent.

An agency official said he hoped layoffs could be avoided through a buyout program PHA will roll out over the next several months.

“We want to stay away from the issue of layoffs,” said Elias Rosario, deputy director of finance. “We hope [the buyout] would be a successful program. If it isn’t then … [we] would have to go back and revisit the budget to determine some of the other options we would have to undertake.”

Commissioner Karen Newton Cole, who recently replaced former commissioner Estelle Richman, approved the fiscal 2013 budget with the condition that if too few employees agreed to take part in the buyout, officials would be required to submit a new spending plan.

If not enough employees take early retirement through the buyout, layoffs seem likely.

Already, the agency has taken steps to deal with the $24.5 million cut in funding, reducing its deficit to $10.2 million by “strategically tightening operational spending,” Rosario said.

To close the remaining gap, it will do two things.

First, the PHA will restructure its bond debt, taking advantage of lower interest rates to save $5.77 million next year.

The remaining $4.51 million will come through cuts to the agency’s 1,400 member staff.

A snapshot of the agency’s finances showed that officials expect total revenue to be $376 million in fiscal 2013. That was down from $400.5 million in 2012.

Operating expenses for 2013 were listed at $338 million, up about $800,000 from 2012.

Rosario pointed out that administrative salaries dipped from a total of $38 million in last year’s budget to $34 million in the 2013 budget. Spending for utilities dipped too. According Rosario’s numbers, spending dropped from about $31 million to $28 million largely because the agency has been aggressively pursuing solar energy and other energy reduction strategies.

Looking ahead, Rosario said PHA hopes to further cut expenses by beefing up its legal staff. That will allow the agency to reduce its reliance on outside law firms, a practice that has drawn a great deal of scrutiny — including charges of unethical activity by former board president John F. Street after the law firm that employed his son, Sharif, contracted with the PHA.

Rosario also said the agency will add in internal audit and oversight department in an effort to save money with outside auditors.

Friday’s budget briefing was only second time the board held a public briefing of a PHA budget. The first occurred last year under Richman. Before the federal takeover last year the agency kept its finances veiled.

In other agency news, Administrative Receiver Michael Kelly said new rules governing public comment at PHA meetings would be released at the board’s Jan. 26 meeting.

Finally, Kelly also reported, that the agency exceeded its minority participation goals last year.

PHA has a goal of 20 percent minority participation and 10 women participation. Last year, according to Kelly, 30 percent of contracts went to minority owned businesses and 19 percent to women-owned businesses. He said he would release a more detailed report in the near future.

Contact Staff Writer Eric Mayes at (215) 893-5742 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Mayor Michael Nutter and officials with the Department of Housing and Urban Development are expected to sign an agreement this week keeping the Philadelphia Housing Authority under federal control for the near future.

“For a variety of reasons PHA, HUD and the Nutter administration believe that we should continue in the same mode for some period of time to come,” said Mark McDonald, Nutter’s spokesman, citing the fact that PHA remains at the center of several ongoing investigations, and legislation regarding its governance remains pending in Harrisburg. “There are a variety of investigations and studies being done by the federal government, and consequently, this isn’t the moment.”

Nutter is expected to sign the agreement Wednesday.

Unlike the previous agreement, which placed PHA under the authority of a federal receiver and ceded authority to HUD for a year, the new agreement is expected to allow HUD to remain in control for a period of months.

McDonald was unsure how long.

Director Michael Kelly said the agency is on firm footing and should revert to local control “soon.”

The scrutiny generated by Carl Greene’s departure has ultimately strengthened PHA, he said.

“We may be one of the strongest agencies in the whole country right now,” he said. “Because we spent the last year revising our systems and procedures. It’s the kind of improvement most housing authorities don’t think about, because they’re not under the kind of heavy scrutiny that we’ve been put under.”

In the 18 months since Greene’s exit, PHA has created a legal department, eliminating the use of outside attorneys, a practice established by Greene; created an audit department and put in place new procurement and contract rules and procedures.

But, Kelly said he was most proud of the less tangible changes at the agency.

“I feel very strongly about a very profound cultural shift of how people interact with each other around here, interact with clients and interact with our stakeholders,” Kelly said. “I’m most proud of the things you can’t see.”

PHA was placed under Kelly’s authority as federal receiver and a HUD commissioner – one person who replaced the previous board of five local members – last March after the board resigned to facilitate a federal takeover of the scandal plagued agency.

Since the takeover, two commissioners have overseen the agency.

Currently, Karen Newton-Cole, acting chief of human resources at HUD, administers the agency. Prior to her appointment, Deputy Secretary of HUD, Estelle Richman served as commissioner. She resigned in September, after receiving the promotion to deputy secretary.

The takeover was the result of a series of shakeups that started in August 2010 when news broke that Greene, the former director who was fired in September 2010, had been accused of sexual harassment on at least four different occasions, and used PHA money to pay for out of court settlements, all unknown to the board.

The fallout generated by the scandal prompted at least three investigations: by the FBI, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and HUD - and numerous audits, one of which is expected to be made public next month. Kelly said three investigations remain open.

In addition, it raised questions in Harrisburg and resulted in two bills proposing new governance for the agency.

At the moment, the mayor picks two board members, the city controller selects two and those four choose a fifth member who is required to be PHA resident.

Under one of the proposals, now before the state Senate, the mayor would appoint nine commissioners, three of whom would subject to city council approval. In the second proposal, now in the House, the mayor would appoint five commissioners; city council would choose two and PHA residents elect two.

McDonald said the administration thought it wise to allow PHA to remain under federal control until some of those outstanding issues are resolved.

“While a lot of great things have occurred, you still have outstanding questions,” he said.

Among the things McDonald listed was a significant cultural shift under Kelly’s leadership.

“He has done a good job. There is no longer the kind of fear and worry that existed under the old regime,” said McDonald. “Its just that they’re not to a point where anybody wants to change the current status.”

To comment, contact staff writer Eric Mayes at 215-893-5742 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Ending nearly four years of on-and-off negotiations, the Philadelphia Housing Authority and the police department have signed a new contract.

The deal gives the department’s 26 members a 2.5 percent raise April 1, and a 3 percent raise on April 1, 2013, the final year of the contract. And, in an effort to address the years where officers worked without a contract, the new agreement also gave members a 7.5 percent retroactive raise.

In a significant change from previous contracts, the agreement requires police officers to contribute 5.5 percent of their pay toward their pension plan. PHA will match that total.

Until now, members had a traditional defined benefit plan.

The deal was ratified by housing Commissioner Karen Newton Cole on Thursday.

President of the Fraternal Order of Housing Police Rodney Little could not be reached Friday for comment.

PHA director Michael Kelly lauded the agreement.

“We are committed to agreements with our unionized workforce that are fair to our employees and to taxpayers,” he said. “With this contract, we are telling our uniformed police officers we appreciate their service, and we are also keeping within the financial realities of what our funding will allow,” said Michael Kelly, Administrative Receiver/Executive Director in a statement.

In addition to the wage increase, the housing authority agreed to pay the officers three years of back clothing allowance.

PHA has 26 uniformed police officers who mainly patrol older public housing sites.

That figure represents a major reduction in force from a high of 350 officers. Housing authority officials said that fewer officers are needed as the agency moves away from older, high-rise style projects to new houses built into the city’s street grid, which opens the agency’s developments up to patrols by city police. The housing authority also hires private security firms to augment policing, a practice that has been increasing since 2005. The agency had not hired a new police officer since 1998.

That fact has created some tension between the union and management.

Little, in statements to the Tribune earlier this year, accused the PHA of trying to break the union and noted that the two sides hadn’t even met to talk terms since July 2011.

Contact staff writer Eric Mayes at (215) 893-5742 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .