New bill would require yearly presentations from Jacksonville Housing Authority to city council

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville’s city council is calling for yearly updates from the same embattled organization now facing new mismanagement questions.

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The Jacksonville Housing Authority is one of the only independent authorities in Jacksonville not already required to do so.

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According to the bill, JHA “shall make an annual presentation to certain council standing committees.”

It came out of city council’s special committee on homelessness and affordable housing which has been meeting for months and has a similar mission to JHA.

“We just want to be on the same page as them, understand what their goals are — they can understand what our goals are,” Council Member and Committee Chair Joe Carlucci said.

RELATED: Source: HUD starts audit of Jacksonville Housing Authority; CEO submits resignation during meeting

Action News Jax asked if the bill had anything to do with the Office of Inspector General investigations into the authority.

RELATED: New mismanagement questions at Jacksonville Housing Authority involving fraud and felon

“Absolutely not,” Carlucci said. “The timing was obviously at the same time and I want to make it clear this in no way shape or form in reaction to that.”

Multiple ongoing investigations come after two last year found JHA wasted nearly two million of federal funds for utility cards. Another targeted the authority’s former chief operating officer Vanessa Dunn alleging she violated policy by allowing a former resident to move in despite being a convicted felon. Dunn is now the acting CEO.

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Carlucci said he’s looking forward to a new partnership. “We can really all start on a good foot,” he said. The legislation already picked up several additional co-sponsors and passed unanimously through a couple committees.

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