Housing authority officials step down

The chairman and vice chairman of the board of the Las Vegas Housing Authority, the agency that administers public housing for the city's poor, both resigned last week.

Robert "Bobby G" Gronauer, who resigned as board chairman, cited family obligations as his reason for leaving the board.

But Gronauer, who also is Las Vegas' constable, said the housing authority's myriad financial and administrative problems in recent years indirectly influenced his decision.

"The housing authority takes up a lot of time, and there is a lot of aggravation with it," he said. "I just don't have time anymore to put out that kind of effort."

Gronauer had served on the board for about four years.

Bill Gonzalez, who had served as the board's vice-chairman, also resigned last week. He could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.

Gonzalez recently lost his bid for the Las Vegas Municipal Court Department 6 judgeship.

The housing authority in recent years has faced federal reviews that found it mismanaged funds, violated federal, state or local regulations and provided better security and maintenance at its majority-white senior housing developments than at its majority-black and majority-Hispanic family developments.

The authority's most recent audit, in July, from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's inspector general's office, found that the agency awarded nearly a half-million dollars in contracts without open and fair competition and kept $85,000 in interest it earned from improperly investing federal grant funds.

Former authority director Parvis Ghadiri resigned not long after the federal audit.

Last fall, the authority's interim director, Carl Rowe, fired dozens of the agency's employees after being forced by federal officials to convert to a decentralized, "project-based" management style.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman will appoint two new members to the five-member board, Gronauer said.