Solicitor had concerns about Affordable Housing

January 13, 2006

PAT LITOWITZ
plitowitz@ncnewsonline.com

The county housing authority's solicitor had concerns dating back to 2004 about the operations of a nonprofit spinoff agency.

It was that year, attorney Louis Perrotta said, that he sent letters to Robert Evanick, the Lawrence County Housing Authority's executive director, regarding Affordable Housing of Lawrence County.

That agency was started in August 2003 by the housing authority.

In the April correspondence, Perrotta requested that five areas be addressed.

They were contracts, segregation of funds, conflicts of interest, board appointments and collateral. He recommended an outside law firm examine those issues.

In October 2004, he reiterated his request.

Perrotta also sought a meeting with the solicitor of Butler County's affordable housing agency.

"I had some questions on the relationships and how it worked," Perrotta said Jan. 12.

That meeting never took place.

"No one ever got back to me on it," he said.

Evanick said he could not recall those particular letters.

"I receive correspondence from him all the time," he said of Perrotta.

The housing authority hired Perrotta as its solicitor in 2003. Jan. 12, at the housing authority's meeting, the board accepted his resignation.

Perrotta gave his notice to Evanick early this month. At the time, Evanick said the attorney's contract was due for renewal, adding, "He indicated to me that he was thinking about it in December."

Copyright (c) 2006, New Castle News