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Halifax finance committee to probe Pembroke role in housing authority maintenance
Summary
A resident raised questions about federal housing funds being routed to Pembroke for Halifax properties; the finance committee asked the town administrator to investigate whether maintenance dollars and oversight should be returned to Halifax.
A Halifax resident asked the town’s finance committee on June 15 to probe why maintenance work on Halifax Housing Authority properties appears to be carried out by Pembroke and whether federal housing funds are being routed to Pembroke rather than to Halifax.
The question came from a caller identified in the meeting as Scott, who told the committee he had been ‘‘looking around’’ and asked why the town did not perform maintenance itself if Pembroke was receiving federal funds. ‘‘If they’re not doing it out of the goodness of their heart, it must be profitable for them,’’ Scott said during the meeting. The committee chairman agreed the arrangement ‘‘makes no sense’’ and instructed staff to investigate.
Why it matters: housing authority properties are town assets in practical terms, members said, and money that pays for repairs and maintenance affects local budgets and the town’s ability to use its own building services. Committee members noted website listings that put the housing authority administrative office at a Pembroke address and list a single executive director across both towns, and they flagged possible governance and accounting questions.
What the committee heard and asked for: members said they could not confirm the dollar amount of any federal payment to Pembroke; Scott said he did not have the figure and planned to follow up. Committee members asked Town Administrator Stephen to contact the Halifax Housing Authority and Pembroke, obtain records and minutes, and clarify how payments are certified and spent. Stephen said staff would check public records, reach out to the authority and Pembroke, and report findings at the committee’s next meeting.
Committee members also identified local housing authority board names listed online, including a chairman named Kent Edwards and an executive director listed as John Macau; they flagged that the online record appeared not fully up to date and said they would confirm official listings and meeting minutes.
Next step: the finance committee asked Stephen and staff to return with findings at the next scheduled meeting on June 29 so members could determine whether funds have been misdirected and whether Halifax should resume maintenance work for its housing authority properties.
