Agency's direction prompted president to quit

April 05, 2006

By PAT LITOWITZ
plitowitz@ncnewsonline.com

(Third in a series)

BY PAT LITOWITZ
PLITOWITZ@NCNEWSONLINE.COM

(Third in a series)

Robert Evanick wanted to build new facilities, not rehabilitate old homes.

Yet that was the direction Affordable Housing of Lawrence County headed as plans for a Union Township development faltered.

In August 2004, the nonprofit agency announced its intentions to build Dale Country Estates, a facility for low-income, elderly and disabled adults. By March 2005, little had been accomplished.

"Once it got stonewalled, frustration set in and (the other board members) wanted to do something," said Evanick, who served as president. "It just got away from me.

"I wish I would have resigned sooner. I realized where it was headed wasn't where I wanted it to go."

Affordable Housing's original adviser, Roger Smith, was distancing himself from the project. Another consultant, Robert Ratkovich, was being paid $45 an hour to assist in the construction and planning of Dale Country Estates.

With no project to construct or plan, on April 5, 2005, Affordable's board directed Ratkovich to look into purchasing rental properties for the purpose of converting them into apartments for the disabled and Section 8 recipients. The vote was 6-0, with Evanick agreeing to the plan.

"The feeling was, we haven't done a thing," he said. "Let's do something to establish a track record."

The idea of home rehabilitation was not inconsistent with Affordable Housing's goals. In its application to the Internal Revenue Service for nonprofit status, the group noted its secondary objective was "to acquire and renovate tax delinquent/blighted properties."

Despite its commitment to building new housing, Affordable strayed from its planned course. Five months before the announcement of Dale Country Estates, the group took part in a sheriff's sale.

On March 8, 2004, the agency bought a house located at 1114 Cunningham Ave. for $12,500. Later that month, Affordable Housing considered buying property in downtown New Castle.

Evanick joined board members Donald "Ducky" Conti and Jon Librandi in exploring the idea of financing a multipurpose social center and day-care facility at 101-103 N. Mercer St. The property was being offered to Affordable for $50,000.

It had been purchased six months earlier by C&C Redevelopment for $20,000. The group's solicitor, attorney Ed Leymarie, advised against the move.

Affordable Housing's most controversial move came on Nov. 22, when the board agreed to buy seven properties in the city for $327,500. While Evanick said he was opposed to the sale, minutes from the meeting show him making the motion to buy the homes and to enter into a $250,000 mortgage with First Commonwealth Bank.

Board member Karen DeCarlo, a New Castle councilwoman, seconded the motion. Conti and attorney Frank Natale II joined them to make the vote 4-0.

"I don't think I made the motion," Evanick said. "I did vote for it."

In defense of his votes, Evanick said he wanted to work with the other board members. However, he pointed to Conti and Ratkovich as the driving forces behind the purchases.

"He was supposed to have known what was going on," Conti said. "Bob Evanick was just a figurehead. He was too lazy to do anything.

"(Affordable Housing) was a good thing that was started. It got a little carried away there."

Evanick resigned from the organization on Dec. 8, a day after signing the mortgage papers. He has since watched the collapse of the group he had helped to found.

"I took on something I really didn't have the expertise in," he said. "I was trying to do the right thing.

"The board members that were there just didn't click to get it done."