Anyone attempting to keep up with the developments coming out of the City of London recently has had their work cut out for them. We have seen the resignation of another city council member, impeachment proceedings that have led to the removal of the city’s mayor, and demands from the new mayor for updates on the months-long investigation into the shooting death of Doug Harless, which occurred last December when London City Police officers entered his Lily residence while attempting to serve a search warrant.
Another topic of discussion in recent months has been the operations, or lack thereof, within the Housing Authority of London.
Similar to most everything else that has transpired in London over the course of the past year, the issues with the city’s housing authority are complex. There has been debate over whether the housing authority board itself is still a legally functioning board, with points of contention including how board members have been removed and/or appointed, whether the board has held regular meetings, and various questions regarding the timely filing of required reports.
An article that ran in the September 10 edition of the London Sentinel-Echo offers a summary of a meeting that recently took place between housing authority residents and staff members where concerns regarding the status of the board were addressed, as well as other topics, including the status of federal funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
In the article, Deputy Director of the London Housing Authority Bethani Smith was said to have informed residents at the meeting about new software that is supposed to be in use within the next couple of months. The software will apparently allow for the submission of payments online. At this point, Smith also apparently told those in attendance that the Corbin Housing Authority had, according to the article, “recently attempted to access London’s housing software through its accounting provider, raising additional concerns.”
Dr. Robert Hayes, who has served as the Executive Director of the Corbin Housing Authority since 2022, says that any efforts on his part to access information pertaining to operations at the Housing Authority of London occurred strictly in a consulting capacity, and came as a direct result of requests from London city officials.
“There was nothing nefarious there. They reached out for help,” said Hayes, who has also served as a Regional Director for the Kentucky Housing Association (KHA), and has been selected to serve as a member of the Legislative Committee for the Public Housing Authorities Directors Association (PHADA).
Hayes provided the News Journal with a copy of an Aug. 25, 2025 e-mail correspondence where he was granted permission by Alex Edwards, who was representing the Housing Authority of London, to assist with efforts to retrieve financial reports. The e-mail correspondence appears to have also included now former London City Mayor Randall Weddle, as well as Attorney Emily Campbell.
Hayes also presented an e-mail record showing where he had notified a HUD official of his intent to, with the proper permission, attempt to obtain access to certain financial documents. He said the intention was always to help the city bring its housing authority back into compliance with HUD regulations.
“I don’t understand the politics, and I didn’t mean to step into the politics,” said Hayes. “I wasn’t supporting any mayor or agenda. They were saying ‘we can’t get into the building,’ and ‘nobody is answering the phone.’”
“I have collaborated with numerous housing authorities,” Hayes continued. “I would like to stress that I believe neighbors, who are both within the profession, should help each other. Corbin [Housing Authority] isn’t perfect either. I reach out to people all the time. To me, that is just what colleagues do. You run ideas by each other and collaborate.”
Dr. Hayes goes to Washington
Recently, Hayes and Corbin Housing Authority Board Chairman Mark Daniels attended the PHADA Legislative Forum in Washington D.C. The event gave the duo a front row seat to conversations currently taking place at the national level regarding trends in affordable housing, advocacy efforts, financial challenges, and more.
Specifically, Hayes and Daniels learned about HUD’s “Do More With Less” mandate, which includes drastic cuts to staffing and the looming threat of deep cuts to departmental funding. Many concerns are arising in response to these proposed cuts, but mainly, there is a general sense of fear that scaling back to such an extent will inevitably lead to significant increases in the frequency of fraud, litigation and breakdowns in operational procedures.
Much slower response times on the part of HUD officials is also to be expected, which is something that Hayes said is extremely troubling on the local level.
“I work closely with HUD, and I believe that we desperately need to keep our regional field offices open. The lack of staff and their inability to travel, I believe, will certainly lead to a spike in waste, fraud and abuse.”
When asked what he would like to see happen moving forward, speaking both as a newly appointed national committee member and as an executive director and consultant back home, Hayes said, “I would like to see us stabilize funding, and for the local field offices to be empowered to go out and visit with individual agencies.”
Staying in good standing
With leaner budgets and fewer resources becoming the norm for housing authorities across the nation, executive directors everywhere are being asked to double down on their efforts to remain in compliance with the Public Housing Assessment System (PHAS).
In an attempt to share with the public exactly what areas housing authorities are scored on to remain in good standing, Hayes has provided documentation outlining the PHAS scoring summary, which includes the following areas:
– Physical Assessment, which evaluates the condition of the housing units and determines whether they meet certain safety and sanitary standards.
– Financial Assessment, which evaluates overall financial health and determines the ability to manage resources effectively.
– Management Assessment, which examines operational efficiency, including things like rent collection and various other administrative functions.
– Capital Fund Program, which evaluates the use and management of funds used for major repairs and renovations.
Depending on how housing authorities perform in each of these areas, a composite score will be issued that will determine if they are a “high performer,” a “standard performer,” a “substandard performer,” or if they are “troubled.”
A “troubled” agency requires intervention, meaning drastic steps must be taken to get the agency back into compliance so that it can regain an acceptable PHAS score and maintain its functional viability.
