Housing ‘superagency’ in works

Now that Nevada law allows public housing agencies to consolidate, the valley’s three housing authorities will move quickly toward becoming one "superagency" that would be among the largest of its kind in the country, officials said.

"It’s going to be big," said Carl Rowe, executive director of the Las Vegas Housing Authority.

Many have long suggested that combining the Las Vegas agency with the Clark County and North Las Vegas housing authorities would be more convenient and save money by cutting paperwork and costs.

Gov. Jim Gibbons this month signed into law a bill that allows such a merger.

The combined agency would have a $113 million budget, employ 250 people, and manage about 3,000 public housing units and nearly 9,000 Section 8 vouchers. The vouchers can be used to rent housing anywhere landlords accept them.

Clark County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani said such a merger would help the poor more easily navigate the world of public housing. She helped spur renewed talks about consolidation last year.

"It will allow residents a more convenient way to access housing, with one standardized policy," she said.

A larger housing authority also would hold more sway with federal housing officials, which might bring more federal dollars to Southern Nevada, Giunchigliani said.

The new measure requires any consolidation to be completed by January.

Many details of the merger have yet to be worked out, but Rowe and Giunchigliani said they expect no further layoffs to come with the consolidation.

The Las Vegas and North Las Vegas housing authorities have laid off dozens of employees in recent years because of budget cuts and reorganization.

The new agency would be governed by a board of nine commissioners. Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas and Clark County would each appoint two, and the final commissioner would be a public housing tenant, Rowe said.

The new law says elected government officials cannot serve as commissioners for the consolidated housing authority.

The North Las Vegas Housing Authority, which is the smallest in the valley, has repeatedly come under fire for the makeup of its board.

Four of its five commissioners also serve on the North Las Vegas City Council.

The troubled agency in recent years also has faced financial and administrative problems, including failing to spend millions in public money that was supposed to be spent to house needy people.

The agency’s problems have the potential to postpone its inclusion in the merger.

"The intention is not to saddle the new housing authority with the liabilities" of the smaller agency, North Las Vegas City Manager Gregory Rose said.

The extent of those liabilities won’t be known until the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development completes an audit of the agency, Rose said. The audit probably will be finished by the end of the month, he said.

North Las Vegas and housing authority officials have acknowledged that the city likely will have to help the agency financially, though how much is unclear.

The intention is to stabilize the agency enough so it can join the merger, Rose said.

Rowe hopes to be named director of the regional housing authority after an open search, and he seems the most likely local choice. The county housing authority’s executive director left last year, and North Las Vegas took over managing its housing authority after the agency’s chief executive officer resigned last year.

Rowe said he is excited to be part of a local public housing world that’s changing so dramatically, and he has high hopes for the pending merger.

"One agency has got to be more efficient than three," he said. "If not, shame on us."

Contact reporter Lynnette Curtis at lcurtis @reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0285.