SARATOGA SPRINGS Members of the Saratoga Springs Housing Authority board elected a new chairman Thursday, and debated who has oversight over salaries and work contracts.

The seven-member Board of Directors unanimously backed third-term member Eric Weller as chairman. The former dean of the Skidmore College faculty replaces Dennis Brunelle, who Mayor Scott Johnson declined to reappoint April 1.

Weller joined board meetings through an Internet video feed from Florida over the last several months as the housing authority underwent several changes brought on by the infestation of bed bugs in parts of Stonequist Apartments. He told the City Council in February that it has no say in authority business, and the agency answers only to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Weller attended Thursday’s meeting in person, days after City Council members voted to ask the housing authority’s board to forward all salary increases it has given since 2000. State public housing law states the SSHA sets pay scales and the City Council approves them, but members of the authority have disputed that.

The housing authority receives federal taxpayer money through HUD. It ceased bringing salary changes to the council in 2000 and stopped giving the council annual reports in 2007, just after Ed Spychalski became executive director.

The SSHA board will adopt a new budget for its 2012-2013 fiscal year at next month’s meeting, which includes revised salaries for its 13 or so employees, board members said. It wasn’t clear if the board intends to share the new salaries with the City Council before it meets again in June.

The state Comptroller’s Office began auditing the housing authority’s financial operations at the mayor’s request more than 13 weeks ago. Spychalski said Thursday that auditors recently completed interviewing employees.

Spychalski recently severed the SSHA’s annual work contract with the nonprofit Saratoga Springs Affordable Housing Group, effective Aug. 1. The SSHA received $12,000-a-year to handle the group’s maintenance, labor, advertising, trash pickup, legal advice and more.

Accounts Commissioner John Franck has filed for information on whether the housing authority staff used federal resources to subsidize the housing group. Spychalski says he and other staff members spent hundreds of hours volunteering for the group, but cannot do it anymore because they don’t have the time. He argued that he had the authority to cancel the work contract without the board’s consent. The newest member of the board, former city Finance Commissioner Kenneth Ivins, disagreed: “We as a board have a responsibility to oversee that,” Ivins said.

dyusko@timesunion.com 518-454-5353 @DAYusko

Here is the original post:
New housing authority chairman in Saratoga Springs

Go here to see the original:
Bed bugs close Memphis dormitory | Bed Bugs Forum

See original here:
Sioux Falls Takes Steps to Prevent More Bed Bug Cases …

See the original post here:
Safe Way to Clear Bed Bugs Away? BedBugBully.com Introduces …

Read more:
Sioux Falls raising awareness to bed bugs | Bed Bugs :: Instant Chat …

Continue reading here:
The 'Green' Help, MyCleaningProducts.com Offers a Cleaning …

Read more from the original source:
Megan Fox Horoscope « Paintball Sport

See more here:
Carpet Beetles: Are They The Next Bed Bugs? – New York News …

Excerpt from:
Tampa Exterminator – Common Places You'll Find Bed Bugs and …

View post:
FOX19 Investigates: Secret bed bug dangers | Bed Bugs Forum