Interim chief to remain with LV housing agency

Carl Rowe reluctantly took the helm of the troubled Las Vegas Housing Authority last year on an interim basis and with the understanding that a replacement would be hired as soon as possible.

Now, he's taking the job permanently.

"The place has gotten under my skin," Rowe said. "I thought, I really do have a vision for how it ought to be."

A stripped-down authority board of three on Tuesday unanimously voted to give the job to Rowe even though he had long said he didn't want it.

"I think already we can see a major change (under Rowe's leadership)," new board Chairman the Rev. Dave Casaleggio said. "We have a hell of a ways to go, but we are moving in the right direction."

Rowe, a Las Vegas business consultant, was hired temporarily last year to help straighten out the authority's myriad financial and administrative messes.

Previous director Parvis Ghadiri resigned in the wake of a federal audit that found the authority awarded nearly half a million dollars in contracts without open and fair competition and kept interest it earned on improperly invested federal grant funds.

The authority hired a search firm to find a new director. The candidate originally chosen turned down the job. Rowe added his name to a second search and was the firm's recommended pick.

"I believe he (Rowe) can move us forward," Haywood Carter, a board commissioner, said. "He has some great ideas."

Rowe said he changed his mind about the position after speaking to his wife about it and realizing he has a lot of ideas for the authority and a lot of enthusiasm for the job.

"The housing authority is seen as an albatross around the neck of the community," he said. "But we have enormous potential in our resources if we use them properly."

The authority has a budget of about $60 million and manages more than 2,000 housing units.

Rowe said he hopes the authority can eventually build "mixed-income housing that appeals to all kinds of people."

It is Rowe's second time serving as the authority's director. He resigned in 1994 amid controversies that included disputes over maintenance and security at housing complexes and a federal report that said the authority wasn't doing enough to integrate its properties.

Former Mayor Jan Jones at the time praised the progress Rowe had made in turning the authority into a fiscally responsible agency.

One of Rowe's first acts as interim director of the authority last year was to lay off dozens of employees after federal officials forced the authority to convert to a decentralized, "project-based" management style.

The authority board's chairman, Robert "Bobby G" Gronauer, and vice chairman, Bill Gonzalez, both resigned this month. Casaleggio was chosen by the remaining commissioners, Carter and Las Vegas Councilman Steven Ross, to serve as interim chairman until Mayor Oscar Goodman appoints two new commissioners.

Rowe's contract is under negotiation. The annual salary for the executive director position ranges from about $94,200 to $150,700.