Questions remain about why the executive director of the Housing and Redevelopment Authority of Butler County is on administrative leave.

The authority board at a special meeting Friday said it cannot disclose why executive director Perry O’Malley was placed on paid leave Jan. 15.

“While it is difficult, no one should read into the administrative leave and no additional information will be provided by the authorities, the employees or the board of directors,” authority solicitor Andrew Menchyk said in a prepared statement. “The law requires that authorities keep confidential the basis, reasons and circumstances for any employee leave of absence.”

O’Malley’s leave was ratified at the meeting by the board.

Attorney John Trant is serving as the interim executive director in O’Malley’s absence.

The board is working on an agreement with the Erie County Housing Authority for its executive director to take over some responsibilities for the authority in O’Malley’s absence, including serving as its contracting officer to manage federal funding.

Menchyk said it is unknown whether Erie’s director would replace or assist Trant on the interim basis.

The board said it still expects O’Malley’s return.

“At this point in time there is no reason to believe (O’Malley) will not return to his position in the near future,” Menchyk said in the statement.

The board ratified action it took at the three executive session meetings it had since its last public meeting Jan. 9.

Those actions included entering into an agreement with Trant through the Management Consulting Services — Strategic Solutions.

It also hired attorney Neva Stanger, the head of the labor and employment group at the Wexford law-firm Cafardi, Ferguson, Wyrick, Weis + Stanger LLC, where Trant also is an associate. Menchyk declined to comment on why Stanger was hired or whether it related to O’Malley’s leave.

Authority criticized

Butler County Commissioner Jim Eckstein at the meeting criticized the board for not being open about why O’Malley was placed on leave.

“If you don’t want to make actions public, don’t be in the public sector,” he told the board.

Eckstein said that Menchyk and board member Jerry Andree last week briefed the county commissioners on the issue but said they did not tell them why O’Malley was placed on leave.

“They come into our office and don’t tell us a darned thing,” he said.

Eckstein said the authority told the commissioners at that private meeting it hired a law firm to investigate O’Malley.

“Why hire a law firm to investigate these improprieties,” Eckstein said. “It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. The (state) attorney general would do it for free.”

After the meeting, Eckstein said he is looking into making a request for an investigation by the attorney general’s office.

“I made up my mind coming back from that meeting,” he said. “They didn’t tell us anything.”

Menchyk declined to comment on Eckstein’s comments.

New position removed

The board also eliminated the recently approved position of deputy executive director.

Menchyk said O’Malley created the position in December and recommended the appointment of Sandra Reges, who is the authority’s operations manager.

The board approved the appointment Dec. 19 by a 2-1 vote, contingent upon approval by the state’s Civil Service Commission.

Andree said virtually all positions in the authority go through the civil service process, but said the deputy executive director post never reached that stage.

The state Civil Service Commission typically requires that positions are filled by a civil service testing process and not by internal appointments. However, there are ways for internal promotions at housing authorities to bypass the testing policy.

Jack McGettigan, a spokesman with the state commission, said in a phone interview that employees sometimes can be promoted if they meet the specified requirements for the new position.

McGettigan said he was not sure about whether the authority would have needed to open position to testing.

However, Andree said the promotion never reached that point.

“(The board) took the motion in December and it never advanced beyond that,” he said.

The board would not say why the approved position was terminated. It also would not say whether the position had any connection to O’Malley’s leave.

The authority commissioners are Chairwoman Margaret Clawson, Erma Mowry, Andree, Larry Dickey, and Carolyn Paulsen.

All members except Dickey attended the meeting.

The authority oversees more than 600 housing units for low to moderate income individuals and the elderly in the county.