There are some major problems at the Kyle Housing Authority, ranging from blatant mismanagement to comingling of taxpayer funds. And if you’re thinking, "I don’t even know what the Kyle Housing Authority is," you’re in good company. Neither did Kyle’s own mayor.
The rapidly growing community northeast of San Antonio, Texas is apparently home to a rogue housing authority that has been operating without any real oversight since its very inception 39 years ago. It receives federal funds to manage two apartment complexes offering subsidized rent and is supposed to be overseen by a commission appointed by the mayor. But that hasn’t happened in years—if ever. In fact, the current mayor, Todd Webster, just found out about the agency several weeks ago.
Webster and the rest of the city’s officials first learned of the agency on Nov. 2 when they received a letter from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development telling them how dysfunctional it was. According to HUD, the apartments the authority oversees are in a state of complete disrepair, important financial transactions are not documented, work has been performed without proper approval, and HUD funds may have been inappropriately used for work on a separate housing program administered by the Department of Agriculture.
This entire time, the agency has been headed by a woman named Vickie Simpson, who has since tendered her resignation. She’s been appointing the board that oversees her and has given herself a salary boost twice in the past four years with no outside approval.
The Mayor has vowed to fix the problem. He has since appointed five members to the board, which is the way it was supposed to be from the get-go. They are now tasked with the unfortunate job of trying to make sense of the Housing Authority’s operations with little to no documentation. Simpson is going to stay on until the end of the year, so she can help them figure out what on earth has been going on.
Exit question: How many other Kyle Housing Authorities are currently operating in the United States?