Housing authority under federal investigation before top leaders removed

The Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority was nether national probe successful the months starring up to the removal of the agency’s apical 2 employees, the Review-Journal has learned.

Chief Operating Officer Theodore C. Tulle faced a intersexual misconduct probe carried retired by the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to authorities records and 2 employees who said they participated successful the investigation.

Investigators besides focused connected however the lodging authorization internally handled complaints made against Tulle, according to 1 of the employees progressive successful the probe. One of the agency’s committee members aboriginal said an investigator’s findings were captious of Executive Director Chad Williams, according to an email obtained by the Review-Journal.

Around the aforesaid clip arsenic the HUD-OIG inquiry, the lodging authorization launched its ain probe done an autarkic firm. Investigators with Reno-based Strategic HR Partners focused connected the aforesaid topics, said the employees, who inactive enactment astatine the lodging authorization and were granted anonymity by the Review-Journal to support them from imaginable retaliation.

The findings of the investigations person not been made public. They are being reported present for the archetypal clip and people the 2nd clip bureau leaders faced intersexual misconduct allegations since Williams took the lodging authority’s helm successful June 2018.

The enforcement manager himself was accused by his erstwhile secretary successful aboriginal 2019. An independent investigation aboriginal recovered the 2 had engaged successful an “ongoing, consensual, mutually flirtatious and idiosyncratic relationship,” and that Williams had not violated the lodging authority’s intersexual harassment policy.

However, the committee placed Williams connected probation for six months astatine the investigation’s decision successful August 2019 for violating different unit policies.

The lodging authorization hired Tulle, 65, arsenic the agency’s lawman enforcement manager successful January 2019. In an email to his staff, Williams, 49, wrote the 2 had “personally and professionally” known each different for astir 15 years.

Tulle was placed connected paid administrative permission successful August 2020, wherever helium remained until helium was fired successful aboriginal March, according to a root with firsthand cognition of the matter. Financial records amusement the lodging authorization paid him much than $100,000 betwixt August and March.

Tulle is present successful the midst of the agency’s post-termination proceeding process, according to his lawyer Daniel Marks. He declined to beryllium interviewed for this article.

The lodging authority’s committee of commissioners placed Williams on paid administrative leave successful precocious February 2021 until his declaration expired successful June.

Since 2017, the lodging authorization has agreed to wage more than $500,000 full successful settlements with pistillate erstwhile employees who said they were mistreated by bureau executives. Last year, commissioners agreed to wage $17,500 to the caput who accused Williams of intersexual harassment and $110,000 to different erstwhile caput who accused him of property discrimination.

In a bid of emailed statements to the Review-Journal, Williams wrote that helium had enjoyed his clip astatine the bureau and that astir unit determination had valued his leadership. He wrote that helium was connected aesculapian permission erstwhile the lodging authorization committee voted to spot him connected administrative permission and that helium was not notified by bureau lawyer Theodore Parker astir the upcoming vote.

He declined to remark astir allegations made against Tulle.

“I’m excited I brought wage equity to galore women of color, including promoting respective to enforcement leadership,” Williams wrote. “I americium besides arrogant that I handled unit matters appropriately to guarantee each employees were treated reasonably successful the workplace.”

Tulle’s relation successful agency

Housing authorization officials ne'er internally announced Tulle’s departure from the agency, according to the 2 employees who spoke with the Review-Journal. And they inactive person not told employees wherefore they placed Williams connected leave.

Both of the employees who spoke with the Review-Journal said they were dismayed they and their co-workers person been near successful the dark.

“How are we expected to consciousness harmless and protected erstwhile we don’t person immoderate closure?” 1 said. “We don’t cognize what has happened.”

The lodging authorization serves astir 50,000 low-income families, veterans, the aged and the disabled done its nationalist and affordable housing, arsenic good arsenic its lodging prime voucher program.

As the agency’s lawman enforcement director, Tulle was liable for overseeing the day-to-day operations of its nationalist housing, admissions and different programme departments.

Board members reclassified Tulle’s presumption to main operating serviceman successful May 2020, but helium kept the aforesaid occupation responsibilities.

Tulle’s yearly wage was astir $153,000 arsenic of this year, payroll records show. Williams’ was astir $182,000.

Board Chair Scott Black and Vice Chair Olivia Diaz declined to remark connected the investigations oregon the executives’ departures, arsenic did bureau lawyer Parker and committee members Tick Segerblom, William McCurdy II, Sharon Davis and Cheryl Davis. Commissioner Dan Shaw did not instrumentality aggregate requests for comment.

Likewise, the lodging authorization has for months blocked the Review-Journal from accessing hundreds of pages of authorities emails and documents sent betwixt committee members, bureau unit and investigators, including those astir the intersexual misconduct inquiries involving Tulle. The paper has sought the records done Nevada’s Public Records Act.

On aggregate occasions since March, Parker has refused to merchandise reports documenting completed workplace investigations into Tulle. Parker has stated the documents are protected from disclosure due to the fact that they are “subject to an ongoing investigation.”

Government transparency adept Frank LoMonte denounced the lodging authority’s determination to shroud the reasons down its enactment shakeup.

“It’s a wide recognized champion absorption signifier to stock the astir accusation you perchance can, and this attack goes against each absorption acquisition successful the book,” said LoMonte, manager of the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information astatine the University of Florida.

Claims of inappropriate comments

The accusation obtained by the Review-Journal gives the archetypal glimpse into what preceded the board’s determination successful precocious February to sideline Williams months earlier the extremity of his archetypal three-year declaration with the agency.

The HUD-OIG probe appears to person begun astir September 2020, erstwhile peculiar cause Kelly Slade requested to interrogation committee members. The adjacent period the lodging authority’s quality resources manager emailed each bureau employees that they were required to enactment successful immoderate “investigations conducted by the Agency, including authorized persons oregon entities connected behalf of the Agency.”

The 2 employees who spoke with the Review-Journal said they were interviewed by Slade and, later, investigators with Strategic HR Partners.

The employees said Slade’s enactment of questioning focused connected whether Tulle had ever made inappropriate intersexual comments oregon gestures toward them oregon different women employed astatine the lodging authority. Strategic HR Partners investigators focused connected the aforesaid topics, the employees said.

Both employees told the Review-Journal that Tulle had commented connected their quality successful the past, making them uncomfortable. One of the employees said she heard from different employees that Tulle was “very flirtatious arsenic acold arsenic comments, precise touchy touchy successful the workplace, trying to perpetually hug pistillate employees, asking employees if helium tin instrumentality them to dinner.”

In aboriginal January, Slade emailed lodging authorization seat Black a transcript of the findings study for the “Tulle intersexual harassment probe conducted by HUD-OIG from September to December 2020,” according to a copy of the email obtained by the Review-Journal done a nationalist records request.

It is unclear wherever the national enquiry stands. Slade described it successful her email to Black arsenic an “open investigation.”

HUD-OIG spokesperson Chuck Jones wrote successful an email this period that helium would “neither corroborate nor contradict immoderate investigative actions that whitethorn oregon whitethorn not beryllium underway.”

After receiving the findings study successful January, Black forwarded it to chap commissioner Shaw, who appeared to explicit interest implicit the findings.

“I, similar you, americium astir acceptable to cleanable location and commencement over,” Shaw wrote backmost to Black.

His email besides stated the study included comments captious of enforcement manager Williams.

“I volition enactment successful my reading, that what starts retired arsenic an probe of the Tully (sic) matter, soon turns into an all-out onslaught connected Chad Williams,” Shaw wrote. “I would emotion to person a disinterested 3rd enactment bash an probe of some the Tully (sic) substance and of Chad’s handling of it and different matters. To day I americium not convinced that we are getting the information from either side.”

With Tulle and Williams gone, the lodging authorization is present nether the enactment of erstwhile HUD head Jon Gresley. Board members voted successful March to wage up to $335,000 for Gresley and Florida-based advisor CVR Associates to tally the bureau for 9 months and assistance find its adjacent imperishable enforcement director.

Investigations kept secret

Federal investigations tin past anyplace from a fewer weeks to years, depending connected their complexity, said Gregory Hill, enforcement manager of the nonprofit Association of Inspectors General.

The details are usually kept backstage until they are completed, helium said.

“The hazard of creating briefings oregon providing accusation is past you’re starting to stock your accusation wherever the probe is going,” Hill said. “When you bash that, past you tally the hazard of either losing oregon compromising evidence.”

The Strategic HR Partners probe was concluded anterior to Tulle’s firing successful March, according to a root with firsthand knowledge. The root did not authorities what the report’s findings were, and Strategic HR Partners pb researcher Cindy Davis did not instrumentality aggregate requests for comment. Parker has refused to merchandise reports documenting completed workplace investigations into Tulle.

The lodging authorization has besides spent months withholding much than 400 pages of emails and different documents the Review-Journal has sought nether Nevada’s nationalist records law. In precocious June, the bureau sent the documents to HUD-OIG, claiming the national bureau volition find whether to merchandise them. A HUD-OIG authoritative said it volition instrumentality the 4 to six months to find which records it volition release.

Executive Director Gresley refused to reply written questions astir Tulle, including however agelong helium was connected paid administrative permission and whether helium adjacent inactive works astatine the agency.

LoMonte, the authorities transparency expert, said the lodging authority’s secretiveness is apt to sow distrust among its employees and the public.

“Undeniably, if you won’t reply a precise elemental basal question similar that, radical volition beryllium justifiably suspicious of what is going connected wrong that agency,” helium said.

The soundlessness by lodging authorization enactment has done small to easiness tensions among bureau staff, according to 1 of the employees who spoke with the Review-Journal.

“They don’t privation to look bad, truthful they conscionable swept it nether the rug,” the worker said.

Contact Michael Scott Davidson astatine sdavidson@reviewjournal.com oregon 702-477-3861. Davidson is simply a subordinate of the Review-Journal’s investigative team, focusing connected reporting that holds leaders and agencies accountable and exposes wrongdoing. Follow @davidsonlvrj connected Twitter.