For the past few weeks, since the closing of the applications to fill the vacant position on the Housing Authority of Douglas County Board of Commissioners (HADCO), CEA has been waiting to see which of the two people the Douglas County Commissioners will chose.   CEA has been relatively quiet about the matter.  It is our… Read More Douglas County Commissioners Once Again Set to Pick HADCO Commissioner

After yesterday’s Douglas County Commission reappointment of Chris Spens to the Housing Authority of Douglas County Commissioners, I came home and wrote a bitting commentary about the experience.  However, I decided to give it a day or two before I decide whether to post it in its entirity or to modifiy the angry scarcism.  In the meantime,… Read More DC Commissoners Reappoint Chris Spens, Drives Anger!

Only three people applied for the two seats available on the HADCO Board of Commissioners.  One was Jeff Cooley who is a local CPA.  Another is former HADCO Commissioner, Joy Mayorga.  The last is current HADCO Commissioner, Chris Spens. CEA encourages everyone to call the Douglas County Commissioners, or send emails, even write letters to… Read More Three People Vie for Two Seats on HADCO Board

Without the knowledge or consent of the HADCO Board of Commissioners, HADCO Commissioner Chris Spens apparently attended a meeting a few weeks ago with at least one representative from HUD’s field office in Portland, as well as Douglas County Commissioner Susan Morgan.   It seems that HADCO’s Interim Director Jamie Ambrosini was also there, yet no one bothered to tell the… Read More HADCO Commissioner Chris Spens Meets Behind Closed Doors with HUD and DC Commissioner Morgan!

A Press Release went out yesterday (3/23/11) from the office of the Douglas County Commissioners announcing that they are taking applications to fill two seats on the Housing Authority of Douglas County Commission.  One position is to fill the unexpired term of Ernie Luna who resigned a month or so ago.  The other position is… Read More Douglas County Commissioners Taking Application for Two HADCO Commission Seats!

Well it has been a while since posting anything about our favorite subject.  A lot has happened since our local public housing authority’s (PHA) former Executive Director, Dolly Newman quit without prior notice on November 30, 2010, just as all of her mismanagement began to catch up to her. Good News! Given all they have blundered… Read More HADCO Update!

Although Amber Powell was on the agenda for the special meeting of the HADCO Board of Commissioners last Thursday (12/09 /10), Commissioner Shannon Gammie was quick to stop her from getting a hearing before the body.   Commissioner Gammie claimed she talked with HUD staff in Portland who told her the HADCO Board of Commissioners had not authority to overturn… Read More HADCO Commission Denies Single Mother a Hearing

It is no wonder that the News Review did not publish the full content of HADCO’s Executive Director’s resignation letter.  But in the spirit of transparency, here it is for everyone to see. It is most likely the News Review, or any media, would not want to risk the possible libel and defamation claim that might follow by… Read More HADCO’s Ex Director’s Resignation Letter

While pressure was mounting against her mismanagement of the Housing Authority of Douglas County (HADCO), Executive Director Dolly Newman jumped ship Tuesday.   although no formal written notice has been received by the HADCO Board of Commissioners, two of the members were aware of her resignation when they arrived to a meeting that was supposed to be a public… Read More HADCO Executive Director Resigns Without Notice!

Below is a letter written by the Housing Authority of Douglas County’s (HADCO) maintenance manager, Bill Hagedorn.  This letter was written in response to why the project on Stanton is infested with cockroaches and residents gave up complaining because nothing is ever done.  Well that is not actually true, the resident that warranted this response… Read More What HADCO Staff Thinks of Us!

Citizens group for Housing Accountability with hold another meeting this coming Wednesday, October 27 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Douglas County Courthouse, Room 310, on Douglas in Roseburg. The meeting is open to the public.  We will discuss what is happening with your housing dollars in our community and how citizens can get accountability… Read More Housing Accountability Meeting Oct 27

This Tuesday, October 19, 2010, CEA will hold a public meeting for those interested in what is happing at our local public housing agency, HADCO. The meeting will be from 11 am until 1 pm in Room 310, Douglas County Courthouse (on Douglas in Roseburg). Find out what is happening with your money.   Get updates… Read More Meeting About Public Housing Tuesday!

Tuesday, October 19 from 11 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. a group of concerned citizens will discuss current issues regarding our local public housing program.   The meeting is open to the public and will be held in room 310 of the DC Courthouse, Douglas Ave., Roseburg. For more info:  cea2day@yahoo.com

Note the Executive Session: The #1 Item is a complaint I filed with the HADCO Board in March of this year about the Executive Director Dolly Newman and her behavior toward me.  I filed this letter of complaint with them before they were to evaluate her and decide whether she had earned a raise.   Although my… Read More HADCO Board Agenda for September: How many claims can we pay for?

HADCO Executive Director Dolly Newman is still traveling on our dime without HADCO Board oversight: Rumor has it that she was in Washington DC last week attending the professional associaton of Housing Authority Directors conference.   Here is the purpose and some of the costs we had to foot the bill for: “This is an… Read More HADCO News!

This coming Thursday, June 24, 2010, the Housing Authority of Douglas County will be conducting an evaluation of the Executive Director, Dolly Newman at 12:30 p.m. during their regularly scheduled meeting.  Intending to convene in Exeuctive Session at the start of the meeting, HADCO Commissioners have already been asked by the ED to increase her… Read More HADCO Board Consider Raise for ED

The Douglas County Commissioners will shortly being appointing someone to fill a four-year term on the Housing Authority of Douglas County Board of Commissioners.   CEA sent two emails to our DC Commissioners regarding this appointment and here they are: Here is the an email setting out our support for Joy Mayorga and our request they… Read More HADCO May Board Appointment

Tomorrow, Tuesday, March 16 at 2:30 p.m. there will be a meeting for HADCO residents and supporters to discuss what just happened with the Annual Plan process, establishing the Residents Advisory Board (for next years plan) and ways to address concerns regarding the property actually owned and managed by HADCO, which includes the establishment of Residents Councils (RC) and other… Read More More HADCO: Tenants Meetings, Travel Receipts +

Check out CEA’s website http://www.cea4justice.org to see the income and expense statements for HADCO from September 2009 and January 2010.  They show HADCO is 700% and 688% (respectively) over budget on travel and training.   HADCO Commissioners should put in their Annual Plan that they will limit the amount the ED can authorize on such things.   The… Read More HADCO Executive Director Puts Agency 700% Over Travel Budget!

The public hearing regarding HADCO’s annual plan will resume on Monday, March 8 at 10 a.m. at the Meyer Center building off of Stanton Street in Roseburg.   A public hearing is just that.  It is there for members of the public to comment about how our public housing authority is operated.  It is a time… Read More HADCO Public Hearing Resumes March 8th

Below is a series of emails between HADCO Commissioner Jamie Sanchez and HADCO’s Executive Director Dolly Newman.  The last email is listed first and it was not responded to by HADCO’s Executive Director.  Go to the bottom to find the first in the series–sort of.  It starts with Commissioner Sanchez explaining why she believes HADCO cannot change… Read More How Dumb Can One Bureaucrat Be?

It seems that two of the new members to HADCO’s Board of Commissioners might be off to a good start because they will be attending a meeting that was called by the Executive Director in violation of HADCO’s Bylaws.   This was done to accommodate one of the newly appointed HADCO Commissioner and the ED’s friend Shannon Gammie.  To… Read More HADCO Board to Hold Illegal Meeting?

Here is the email sent to Douglas County Commissioners regarding the appointment to the HADCO Commission tomorrow. February 23, 2010 Good afternoon Douglas County Commissioners, Tomorrow morning, you will have another opportunity to appoint someone to the Housing Authority of Douglas County Board of Commissioners.  CEA hopes you appoint Stuart Liebowitz.  Although we recommended you… Read More DC Commissioners Get Another Chance to Do the Right Thing!

This coming Friday (Feb 19) at noon in Room 311 in the Douglas County Courthouse building, Citizens Education & Advocacy (CEA) is hosting a meeting to discuss how appointments to various county boards, committees and commissions are done.  Although CEA will be discussing this in the context of the our experiences with appointments to the Housing Authority (HADCO) Commission,… Read More Citizens Meeting Friday!

It seems that newly appointed HADCO Commissioner Ernie Luna resigned before he could even be sworn into office.

  Yesterday, I called the newly appointed HADCO Commission member Shannon Gammie at the number listed on her application for public office.  Given our objections to her appointment, I was not even going to bother to do so.  However, I did contact the other person who was appointed with Ms. Gammie, Ernie Luna.  It was… Read More Gammie Tells CEA What Kind of Public Representative she will be Even Before She Starts the Job!

Today Douglas County Commissioners Joe Laurance and Doug Robertson blindly supported Susan Morgan’s appointment of two former work associates of HADCO’s Executive Director’s to the HADCO Board.  Although Susan Morgan cited two basic things she looked at in making her recommendations: public housing experience and public meeting experiences, she did not pick the only person… Read More HADCO Commission Appointments Once Again Demonstrates Flaws in the Process

Tomorrow morning, shortly after 9 a.m. the Douglas County Commissioners will deliberate about and decide at least two of the open seats for HADCO Board of Commissioners.   CEA has already endorsed Joy Mayorga to fill one of the seats.  We have also set out why we do not want Jim Smalley to be appointed.  This… Read More Don’t Give Us Gammie!

1/27/10 Today I appeared at the Douglas County Commission meeting regarding HADCO and offered a solution to the on-going problems.  Below is the written presentation.  A bit more was actually said.  The whole thing can be listened to at the Douglas County Commission website.  Dear Douglas County Commissioners, I am here today on behalf of… Read More CEA Asks County to Take Over HADCO!

Here is one of the last two emails HADCO Commissioners were sent before Commissioner Jody Ahlstedt resigned.   The last one was a one liner asking when the public hearing regarding the Annual PHA Plan was going to be reconvened because it was abruptly terminated by Commissioner Ahlstedt two weeks ago when she became confused about… Read More Doing the Right Thing is Just Too Hard for Some

It seems that what is going on at HADCO is too much for another HADCO Commissioner.   Unforunately it wasn’t Chris Spens who resigned from the HADCO Commission.  The problems at HADCO are too much for some.  The commitment and responsibility is a bit more than most who put their name forward recognize beforehand.      I am concerned they… Read More Another HADCO Commissioner Bites the Dust.

Here is an email just sent to the Douglas County Commissioners regarding why we object to Jim Smalley being considered for a position on the Housing Authority of Douglas County (HADCO) Board of Commissioners.   There may be other reasons not to support his appointment.  However, the public records we have accessed indicate sufficient reason for… Read More CEA Objects to HADCO Applicant Smalley

Information about two applicants to the HADCO Commission puts into great doubt about whether either one of them has what we should require of someone who is going to be in this position of public trust.  CEA is sending a few emails to the Douglas County Commissioners who are responsible for appointing the HADCO Commissioners… Read More Communication with DC Commissioners Re HADCO Commission Appointments

As I reported a week or so ago, DC Commissioners decided to add another application to those being considered for the Housing Authority of Douglas County (HADCO) Commission.  Their reasons to do this was to try to rectify a wrong and be fair to the applicant.  However, to just add an application to the pile… Read More Possible Delay In HADCO Commission Appointments

The Douglas County Commissioners added another candidate to the pool of people vying to be our representatives to the Housing Authority of Douglas County (HADCO) Board of Commissioners.   The inclusion of Rory Mayberry’s application to be on HADCO’s Commission brings the number of people willing to serve their community on our local public housing authority’s (PHA)… Read More One More Added to the Pool of HADCO Contenders!

 https://www.phada.org/conferences/2010tampa/index.php The above links to information about the second conference/training in Florida the Executive Director, Dolly Newman of the Housing Authority of Douglas County (HADCO) has been to recently. However, this is not the extent of her out of town travel that even the HADCO Board of Commissioners do not know about before she goes. In… Read More Where Are Our Tax Dollars Being Spent Today?

http://www.nrtoday.com/article/20100105/PUBLICFORUM/100109874/1053&ParentProfile=1055 Posted using ShareThis

It is interesting how some controversy can bring out more interest in a County appointed volunteer position than it has ever seen before.   I am not complaining mind you, I just find it interesting each time names show a keen interest in being on the HADCO Commission, yet are not known to those of us  citizens who… Read More All In The HADCO Commission Pot!

Tomorrow, Monday December 28, 2009 is the deadline for anyone interested in applying to be on the HADCO Board of Commissioners.  These appointments are to fill to interim vacancies.  One is to fill a two + year unexpired term and another is to fill a four month vacancy.  Anyone who is interested can get an… Read More HADCO Commission Deadline

I just sent an email to the Douglas County Commissioners asking them to remove Chris Spens from the HADCO Board of Commissioners because he is refusing to meet with his fellow HADCO Commissioners.  The email I sent to the DC Commissioners regarding this is below, which includes two emails between HADCO Commissioners.  Dear Douglas County Commissioners, Here… Read More Spens Suspends All HADCO Business

With a deadline regarding a fair housing complaint pending with the Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) looming over their heads, HADCO Commissioner Chris Spens stalked out of the HADCO Commission meeting and it came to abrupt halt.  Responding to a challenge from CEA and a fellow Commissioner, Spens picked up his things and left the meeting in… Read More Spens Suspends HADCO Commission Meeting!

CEA is meeting today, Thursday November 4 at 1 pm in the D.C. courthouse room 310 to discuss the future of HADCO and how our public housing policy is made.  Anyone in the vacinity today that is interested in HADCO’s Annual Housing Plan for our community, or about filling the two vacant board seats, is… Read More CEA Meeting to Discuss HADCO

CEA hoped that with Herm Oberholzer’s resignation from the Housing Authority of Douglas County Board of Commissioners our stress and strife was over, but not so. It seems that the appointment process to replace him leaves all kinds of questions about what is still going on at HADCO.   There is a controversy that has arisen regarding… Read More HADCO Taints DC Commission Appointments!

    The above is a copy of the letter of resignation that former HADCO Commissioner Herm Oberholzer submitted to the Douglas County Commissioners.  As usual Herm’s interpretation of facts is different than others.  He seems to have a tendancy to either misunderstand information presented to him or he chooses to outright lie.  He also has… Read More Reason Herm Obholzer Claims He Resigned from HADCO Board of Commissioners

Although I do not have all the details, it is my understanding that Herm Oberholzer tendered his resignation from the Housing Authority of Douglas County Oregon Board of Commissioners to Douglas County Commissioner Susan Morgan yesterday.  Now maybe HADCO can move on from all the termoil that has been too much a part of this government entity… Read More HADCO and the People of Douglas County Have Something to Celebrate!

Yesterday at the monthly meeting of the Housing Authority of Douglas County Board of Commissioners, their Chair Herm Oberholzer revealed that he and the Executive Director have been working behind the scenes to get a legal opinion from their attorney at Harrang and Long (a law firm in Portland) supporting their desire to remove HADCO Commissioner Jamie… Read More HADCO HARPIE HARRANGS! Yes It is about Herm Again.

In past few months since Herm Oberholzer was elected to the Chair of the Board of the Housing Authority of Douglas County, he has chosen to escalate problems with at least one new board member instead of demonstrating the required leadership this board needs and try to learn to work with all on the HADCO… Read More Is This Your Representative?

HADCO Commissioner Herman Oberholzer writes a periodic guest opinion column for the Roseburg Beacon. He does not do this as a HADCO Commissioner: he does so on his own time. He, like the rest of us, enjoys the right to free speech, which means he is free to do and speak about what he wants… Read More Thoughts from and on HADCO Commissioner Herm Oberholzer part one