Needles council votes to assume governing responsibilities for the Needles Housing Authority

The Needles City Council voted to adopt Resolution 2023‑12 to assume the governing‑board responsibilities of the Needles Housing Authority (NHA).

Staff said the NHA has not complied with some statutory and administrative requirements in recent years: audits and annual financial statements had not been prepared, board meetings had lapsed, and HUD had flagged the authority as at risk of being designated a troubled agency. Deputy City Attorney Lena Wade told the council the NHA received a Public Housing Assessment Score (PHAS) of 43 points — below the 60‑point threshold HUD generally uses to avoid a ‘troubled’ designation — and described the process HUD follows to require a memorandum of agreement and remediation steps.

City staff recommended the council declare itself the board of commissioners, appoint an interim chair and vice chair (proposed initially as mayor and vice mayor for continuity), direct staff to prepare an ordinance to create a housing advisory commission, and delegate authority to the city manager to implement the transition and provide financial and administrative support.

Julie Begum, identifying herself as executive director of the Needles Housing Authority, told the council she had taken the job recently, described current projects (window replacements, plans for roofs and landscaping) and disputed some assertions about meeting frequency and record keeping, saying she was working on unaudited financials and repairs.

Community member Barbara Beard raised conflict‑of‑interest concerns about the city acting as the housing authority board and asked the council to consider statutory consequences and overlapping jurisdictions; staff responded that state housing authority law (amended in 1968) allows a city council to declare itself the board of commissioners and that staff would prepare bylaws, a housing advisory commission and other documents to comply with HUD and state rules.

Councilmember Pogue moved to adopt the resolution; the motion was seconded and the council approved it on a unanimous roll‑call vote of members present. Staff and counsel said they will work with HUD officials and the housing authority’s executive director to pursue corrective actions required by HUD, including the memorandum-of-agreement process if necessary.