Bradenton Housing Authority seeks more compliance control over Bradenton Village Apartments

BRADENTON -- An ongoing review of the contract governing the management of some units at the Bradenton Village Apartments is revealing that the Bradenton Housing Authority could have more of a say in protecting residents from mismanagement.

BHA Executive Director Ellis Mitchell Jr. on Thursday proposed to the BHA board the hiring of a compliance manager, a position he said the agency can afford due to cost savings measures put into place over the past year.

"No one has ever done it at Bradenton Village and we have to start making sure Bradenton Village management is doing what they are supposed to be doing per our agreements," said Mitchell.

At Bradenton Village, 160 of the 221 units are reserved for clients of the housing authority.

The BHA pays Telesis Corp., which owns the apartments, 95 percent of the rent it receives from tenants. In exchange, Mitchell said Telesis is required to provide the BHA with several reports, ranging from financial statements to rent delinquency. Mitchell said the BHA is not receiving some of those reports and others are not submitted on time.

"I'm going to generate a letter to (Telesis) to let them know that starting in January, we are going to do some compliance monitoring and I'll give her a chance to respond and take it from there," said Mitchell.

BHA board chair Napoleon Mills said if Telesis "is running the kind of operation we think she's running," they should know what their requirements are. "Now that we know, we need to get the word out whose responsibility it is."

Compliance monitoring will extend to the vacant lot between Bradenton Village and Rogers Garden Elementary School, another contentious point for the BHA, which has paid for upkeep in the past when the responsibility belongs to Telesis. The lot was intended to be the site of 92 housing units, but the plan was canceled when HUD funding was cut in 2003.

However, Mitchell said the land-lease agreement still requires adequate insurance and maintenance.

"I'm not trying to have a bad relationship with (Telesis)," said Mitchell. "But this has to be taken care of. It just can't be overgrown and have a bunch of stuff thrown out there."

Mitchell said the land-lease agreement states the BHA has the right to issue a 30-day notice of noncompliance and if the situation is "not cured, we may have the right to take that land back."

Mitchell is proposing a quarterly inspection of the lot in coordination with the city's code enforcement department to ensure the lot is being kept up to standard.

Mark Young, Herald urban affairs reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7041 or follow him on Twitter@urbanmark2014.

This story was originally published November 19, 2015 at 1:40 PM with the headline "Bradenton Housing Authority seeks more compliance control over Bradenton Village Apartments ."