The Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee (HACM) provides affordable housing options to over 10,000 families. For years, public housing residents have criticized the agency’s management. They’ve filed thousands of complaints about public safety, unsanitary living conditions, maintenance issues and more.
Last week, the Housing Authority announced staff reductions and acknowledged the agency’s misuse of federal funds. Now, with new leadership and board members, HACM hopes to turn things around.
Former housing authority resident Charlotte Hayslett, who recently became chair of the board, discusses the agency’s next steps and why she chose to join.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Can you share some of your background and why you joined the Housing Authority?
I've seen the embattlement that HACM was facing, and so I couldn't stand by because my heart is with the residents. With me being a resident, I am closely associated with how that feels—the feeling of being marginalized or not being heard. I wanted to be a part of that solution, to turn things around, which is why I chose to be on the Board of Commissioners.
The Housing Authority recently announced that it's partnering with the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, also called HUD, on the Milwaukee Recovery plan. That's coming after the Housing Authority illegally used $2.8 million in federal funding to pay for administrative costs under previous leadership. What are the repercussions of that? Will any current or former Housing Authority leaders or board members be held accountable for that?
Well, I'm not quite sure what the consequences are altogether. We are working closely with HUD. For us, the primary thing was, first, to discover it, to figure out what was happening, and as soon as it was discovered, we shared that publicly. Now, as dismal as it was, we wanted to be as transparent as possible with everything we're uncovering because that's the only way we can heal and move forward as a better organization.
Can you talk about how the agency has changed overall recently and describe some of the new board members and why they were brought on?
With the new leadership, we are committed to transparency. Whereas before there was a great lack of transparency that was happening. The agency is now collaborating with HUD, the mayor's office, the City Council office, as well as some of the community advocacy groups like Common Ground that really made waves for the residents. So, this is more of a collaborative effort than I can have ever imagined.
What would you say are the most pressing issues to address when it comes to resident complaints or concerns regarding public safety, housing conditions and maintenance?
We want to make sure that they have a comfortable place to call home. It doesn't matter what their level of payment is, they are paying for a service. Like with any landlord, we expect great services. We're looking to make their houses back into homes where they are free from any pest infestations, they are free from a bunch of crime and things where they feel unsafe walking their neighborhoods.
With that being said, some of the things that we are doing, we've incorporated public listening sessions at the Housing Authority developments, which will begin on Feb. 26 at Becher Court in the afternoon. We're inviting all residents to come out and to be heard. We can have that platform for them, restoring that power back to the resident organizations that are housed within every development.
