By STEVE BENSON
and REBECCA MEANY
Express Staff Writers
New board members have been appointed to the Blaine-Ketchum Housing Authority, but the rebuild is still incomplete.
The Blaine County Commission on Tuesday appointed John Flattery, president of the Wood River Land Trust, while the Ketchum City Council appointed land-use and real estate lawyer Susan Passovoy on Wednesday.
The entire five-member housing board resigned in protest March 1 following the county's appointment of Sun Valley City Administrator Virginia Egger. Former board chairman Tim Eagan said the board resigned because Egger's appointment "violated the spirit, if not the letter, of the Idaho statutes enabling the creation of housing authorities."
Under a joint-powers agreement, the county and Ketchum each appoint two people to the board, and the board itself appoints the fifth. Two board members still need to be appointed, including one from Ketchum. Housing Authority officials are inviting interested members of the public to volunteer for the position.
"The Housing Authority has been somewhat leaderless for the past two months," said Ketchum City Councilman Baird Gourlay, who serves as liaison to the authority. In February, Gourlay warned the Blaine County Commission that appointing Egger was inappropriate and would cause trouble.
County commissioners didn't heed his advice.
The Ketchum City Council appears to be exercising more caution, especially since the housing board may be expanding in the not-so-distant future. In February, Housing Authority Executive Director Michael David said he wanted representation on the board to include all five cities in the county, not just Ketchum.
If that occurs, Egger would have to resign, and the board could undergo another shakedown.
"It's the uncertainty about the mission that's troubling all of us," said Councilman Steven Shafran.
"I have a lot of questions," said Councilwoman Terry Tracy. "I feel like we're propping up an organization that hasn't defined itself as well as it should."
Councilman Ron Parsons said the council should allow the new board time to "reinvent" itself.
"We hold the purse strings," he said. "If it doesn't look like it's going in the right direction, we can regroup."
He added that the new board and possibly a new mission will dovetail with Ketchum's creation of an urban renewal agency and the upcoming formation of a community development corporation.
"I'm cautiously optimistic," Parsons said.
Passovoy is "soon to be retired" from 35 years in real estate and land-use law. She has lived in Ketchum for three and a half years.
According to the Wood River Land Trust's Web site, Flattery spent the majority of his professional career in the development, construction and management of over 15,000 apartments as the executive vice president, chief financial officer, and chief operating officer of The Worthing Companies in Atlanta, Ga. He holds a bachelor's degree in political science and economics from Middlebury College and a juris doctorate from Syracuse University College of Law.
