Departing
director proposes consolidated housing authority
"The
proposed structure (of a Blaine-Ketchum Housing Authority) would give
more of a level of accountability. They’d have justification to either
fund us or not fund us (based on performance)."
-
GATES KELLETT, Ketchum
and Blaine County Housing director
By GREG
STAHL
Express Staff Writer
The local
housing program’s organizational structure is broken and needs to be
fixed.
That is
the message Ketchum and Blaine County Housing Director Gates Kellett
attempted to get across to the Ketchum City Council Monday night. Her
message was met with lukewarm enthusiasm.
"The
whole point of this is to correct what is not working right now. This
position, that of the housing director, is not clear," Kellett
said.
Kellett,
who is resigning in August to work for a housing program near Atlanta,
said ambiguity and unnecessary duplication is created because she
answers to both the city of Ketchum and to the Blaine County Housing
Authority. Rather than create a double layer of confusing bureaucracy,
she suggested that Ketchum loosen the reins and allow an expanded county
housing authority to do its job.
"It
would basically create something like a Blaine-Ketchum Housing
Authority," Kellett said.
She said
having a housing director answer to both the Ketchum City Council and to
the housing authority is a "convoluted way to get a sense of
control."
"The
proposed structure would give more of a level of accountability,"
she said. "They’d have justification to either fund us or not
fund us (based on performance)."
Ketchum
Mayor Ed Simon, however, said he wants the elected officials to control
personnel issues and added that he is concerned about the housing
authority’s shaky track record on getting affordable units built.
"I
want oversight," he said.
Simon
said that while he believes Kellett’s proposal has merit, it could be
too much too fast.
"I’m
in favor of anything that gets results," he said. "If we have
to take it one step at a time, that’s what we need to do."
Kellett
said she would present the proposal, which would require a joint powers
agreement, to the Blaine County Commission on Thursday at an 11:30 a.m.
budget hearing at the Old County Courthouse.
"We
are just looking to do what most other housing authorities do," she
said.