LOCAL

Housing Authority: Suspended director identified as focus of investigation

Leonard Hayhurst
Reporter
Greg Darr has been suspended from his position of executive director of Coshocton Metropolitan Housing Authority.

COSHOCTON – A focus of a federal investigation into the Coshocton Metropolitan Housing Authority and the possible misappropriation of funds has been revealed.

According to a press release from William Todd Drown, legal counsel for the CMHA board, the case is centered on Greg Darr and his employment of certain individuals and the financial management of funds related to the local Resident Council, a HUD mandated organization of local residents which is allocated specified funds for activities, improvements, security and other purposes.

During a special meeting Tuesday evening, the CMHA board voted unanimously to suspend Darr without pay until further notice. Darr was the executive director with CMHA since 2001. Lisa Mowery, Section 8 housing coordinator, was named interim director. Drown said all employment is at will and no employees of CMHA were under contract.

Darr, who attended Tuesday's meeting, declined to comment on the investigation.

The board will meet again in regular session at 8 a.m. Friday at the board office to discuss further business, including how it will handle accrued sick leave and vacation time to Darr. Drown said Darr makes $88,000 annually, plus benefits. Mowery makes $35,599 a year and a salary increase will be discussed at the meeting reflecting her new role.

Drown and Cliff Biggers, board president, said current benefits of public housing residents would not be impacted by the ongoing investigation or its results.

The suspension follows the execution of a search warrant Monday by the Coshocton County Sheriff’s Office, Ohio Attorney General’s Office and the Department of Housing and Urban Development – Office of the Inspector General. Drown said the search warrant was approved by Chief United Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Preston Deavers based on probable cause that a violation of the law had occurred related to an affidavit of facts filed under seal in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio in Columbus.

Drown said he was in contact with the HUD/OIG field office in Cleveland and the U.S. Attorneys Office of the Department of Justice on Tuesday. Both declined to comment on the continuing investigation.

Following an executive session in which personnel was discussed, Drown said the board had one of the hardest decisions he’s ever seen an entity have to make in his career.

PREVIOUSLY:Little information released on housing authority investigation

“We believe in the dignity of individuals and the right of someone to be innocent until proven guilty,” Drown said on behalf of the board. “We also believe the public has the right and the need to have confidence in its public agencies and during an investigation for malfeasance or misfeasance of public funds it would be imprudent for anyone to continue who is a subject of that probe.”

Drown also urged the public to not prejudge the facts until charges are filed and more of the investigation is revealed. As of Wednesday, no charges had been filed and nobody had been taken into custody relating to the case.

Authorities were on scene about six hours Monday and confiscated a large amount of documents and records from the CMHA office and a storage unit at 823 Magnolia Street and a home in the 300 block of North Fourth Street, according to Lt. Dean Hettinger of the Coshocton County Sheriff’s Office.

CMHA has 131 public housing units divided between Coshocton Meadows and Parkview North for eligible low-income individuals and families. It also operates a voucher program for qualified families to use toward rental properties owned by private landlords.