MONTICELLO, N.Y. – The future of the Monticello Housing Authority is at risk after nearly the entire agency’s board and the executive director abruptly resigned last week.
Michael Sussman, the Village of Monticello Attorney, told Radio Catskill that four board commissioners — Tanita Owens, Stella Butler, Heather Russell, and Anthony Valle — and the now-former executive director Marc Starling submitted their formal resignations last Thursday and Friday.
Starling’s last day was planned for Monday, August 31, but Sussman said Starling was on bereavement leave and did not show up to the office on his final day.
The resignations come after tenants have alleged years of building mismanagement and landlord harassment since the 2020 COVID pandemic at the Monticello Housing Authority (MHA) – one of more than 3,000 public housing agencies across the country overseen by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
“It’s been hell,” said Vanetta Lane, an MHA resident at Evergreen Housing in Monticello for more than two decades.
She and other tenants had previously described issues of management treating tenants unfairly and threatening tenants who were allegedly behind on rent, including Starling allegedly threatening to watch how many people come into apartment units to confirm household size.
Lane said neither MHA or the Village of Monticello, whose Mayor is responsible for appointing MHA’s board, has notified tenants about the abrupt management resignations.
“No one came to even ask to have a meeting for the tenants to come in to explain to them what’s the next step,” said Lane.
MHA is one of two local public housing authorities in Sullivan County and the largest, managing about 98 units compared with about 40 units at the Woodridge Housing Authority in Woodridge.
Residents have also alleged financial mismanagement, claiming that the rent the agency claims tenants owe don’t add up and that some tenants haven’t had active leases for years.
Some tenants had filed formal complaints earlier this year with Sullivan County’s Human Rights Commission focused on alleged bullying tactics and non-compliant accounting from Starling.
Ramone Wilson, the county’s Human Rights Commissioner, previously told Radio Catskill that he and county leaders were trying to work with Starling to discuss the agency’s oversight and tenant concerns.
The only remaining board commissioner is Avraham Richard, who alleges that previous board commissioners attempted to push him and other board commissioners off the board. The lack of leadership has created both chaos and confusion, says Richard.
“It’s a very challenging transition because there are needs. There are documents that need to be signed [and] timelines that residents need to adhere to in terms of their continuation of receiving Section 8 vouchers,” said Richard.
Sussman said that the Village of Monticello Manager James Snowden will temporarily work with HUD and the Village and MHA attorneys to ensure all payments are made to vendors and staff through this transition.
For now, the Village of Monticello has posted a press release seeking new board commissioners on Friday and Sussman says the Village has received some applicants. Two of the board commissioners must be tenants according to state law. The board commissioners then hire a new executive director.
But Lane says she’s not too confident that the Village of Monticello Mayor Rochelle Massey will be able to appoint qualified board commissioners. She and a group of tenants have created a new tenants association earlier this year to share tenants’ rights and concerns and advocate for better living conditions.
Richard says centering tenants’ experiences have been missing for years and must be a priority for both board commissioners and the executive director to rebuild tenant-landlord trust.
He said tenants are looking for “respect from not just the board, but from HUD as well because this agency has suffered a lot in the past eight years.”