The executive director of the St. Petersburg Housing Authority was "exonerated" Friday by a committee charged with investigating alleged problems with his management style. Edward White Jr. said he was "pleased but not surprised" to be cleared by committee members, who are members of the Housing Authority board. The allegations stemmed from a four-and-a-half-page anonymous letter mailed to the board chairman several months ago.
White pledged there would be no reprisal against the current and former employees who wrote the anonymous letter that sparked an investigation into the way he runs the authority. White added that he didn't know for sure who they were, but had some ideas. However, White called the letter a "dastardly" and "cowardly" tactic.
After a two-hour meeting, during which committee members went over each accusation with White, the members said they were satisfied with White's responses, both written and oral.
"It's a full and complete resolution and we feel the executive director is exercising his duties properly and is upholding the policies of the board," said Ann R. Worthington, housing committee board member.
Added board member James R. Gillespie: "I think we have exonerated him and confirmed the status of all his past evaluations," which generally were positive.
Members plan to report those findings to the full board when it meets Jan. 17. The committee plans to recommend that the board no longer investigate allegations made in anonymous letters.
Committee members also plan to tell the board that White will begin making periodic reports to the board to keep members apprised of the numbers of employees hired and fired and those who left for other reasons.
One of the allegations against White was that his management style was "disturbing" and contributed to high employee turnover.
In a letter dated Thursday, White said this of his agency's turnover: "I emphatically dispute the allegation that turnover at the Housing Authority is "excessive.' Furthermore, turnover, whether excessive or not, is not related to "my management style.'
White reported the turnover at the Housing Authority was 60.5 percent in 1988, 57.9 percent in 1989 and 32.6 percent in 1990. White said most of the turnover was in the ranks of maintenance and security personnel _ traditionally the lowest paid employees. That's consistent, according to White, with what is happening in the rest of Florida.
White said he will collect numbers from other housing authorities to compare turnover rates with similar institutions elsewhere.
The investigation into White's performance was sparked by a letter dated Oct. 27 and signed only from "concerned employees of the Housing Authority." The authors of the letter accused White of unorthodox hiring practices, mismanagement of funds and an intimidating, authoritarian management style.
After receiving the letter, Housing Authority board chairman George Meehan called a meeting Nov. 7. Board members agreed to hire Jack Riley, a St. Petersburg lawyer and former member of the Housing Authority board, to investigate the allegations.
In a preliminary report dated Dec. 13, Riley discounted allegations of financial mismanagement, but criticized White's management style. Riley said he found that job openings were posted after the jobs were filled, that White hired people who had not been interviewed by the personnel director and that White required all mail be brought to his desk before distribution.
Subsequently, a letter signed by 41 employees was sent to the board chairman in support of White. The authors said the investigation by Riley was being mishandled and had become a personal attack on White.
In an 11-page letter dated Dec. 19, White went through Riley's criticisms and rebutted each one. He said he was "unaware of any deliberate, after-the-fact" job postings.
White also disputed Riley's assertion that few Housing Authority employees have job descriptions. He brought a thick black binder of job descriptions to the committee meeting with him to show anyone who cared to look.
In the concluding pages of his letter, White wrote this: "While I earnestly believe that I have made a full and satisfactory response to this matter, I feel compelled to register my very strong concerns about the entire manner in which this sorry affair has been handled and the manner in which my personal and professional reputation has been needlessly degradated."