Bradenton Village’s performance improves

One of the first things Bradenton Housing Authority Executive Director Ellis Mitchell Jr. uttered upon being hired in November of 2014 was that the Hope VI public-private partnership with the Bradenton Village Apartments was a “bad deal.”

The relationship has improved now that Bradenton Village has come into full compliance with its contractual obligations to the BHA. It isn’t a marriage made in heaven, but it has come a long way in the almost two years Mitchell has been at the helm of what was a sinking ship under the former leadership of Wenston DeSue. He is serving a one-year sentence in federal prison for theft of federal funds.

After spending months dissecting a contract that is more than 400 pages, Mitchell discovered the BHA had more rights than what was said by DeSue, who did nothing to address concerns of the Bradenton Village public housing residents. DeSue did hire Stephanie West to conduct compliance monitoring, “but it never got done,” Mitchell said.

West and Desue were married just weeks before West was sentenced to 3 years of supervised release for her part in the BHA scandal that left the agency $500,000 in debt. Bradenton Village, located near the corner of 13th Avenue West and First Street, has 357 units, of which 197 are public housing.

Those residents now have a voice after some claimed Bradenton Village management was keeping them quiet through bullying tactics and threats of eviction. Management and Bradenton Village overseer, Washington D.C.-based Telesis Corp. have denied any wrongdoing, but acknowledged a strained relationship with some of the public housing residents.

“We have begun doing the inspections of the units on a quarterly basis and they are sending the monthly reports on time,” said Mitchell. “We sent out 10 resident surveys and got back three. I would like to get a better response from the surveys, but all three families that responded say they are satisfied.”

The contract requires Telesis to submit several different types of reports. They include a tracking of public housing residents, maintenance plans and an itemized list of where Telesis spends the 95 percent of rent it keeps under its deal with the Department of Housing and Urban Development to maintain the Hope VI project.

Those reports are now flowing in and Mitchell said the BHA is compiling the data. The BHA initiated its first 10 unit inspections in June, “and all 10 passed inspection,” Mitchell said.

BHA Commissioner Bonnie Belford noted that some of the inspections showed dirty appliances and “trash on the floor,” but Mitchell said the purpose of the inspections is not housekeeping.

“We just make sure everything is working,” he said. “If they fail our inspection, then we let management know that we are coming back. Personally, I think Bradenton Village has done a much better job since I’ve been here. The majority of things have been taken care of because we are staying on them.”

Bradenton Village Community Coordinator Rodney Jones, who was hired by Telesis in the midst of the controversy, said Mitchell’s leadership has gone a long way in improving overall relations.

“I can’t say enough for what (Mitchell) has done as a leader here and the integrity he’s brought and everything he’s done in a short amount of time,” said Jones.

This story was originally published August 18, 2016 at 3:55 PM with the headline "Bradenton Village’s performance improves."