Housing Authority Board Infiltration in Longmont?

Tonight the Longmont City Council is taking a look at the relationship they have with the citizen Housing Authority Board. Staff has recently researched a gray area in which the Council liaison to the Authority gets to vote on decisions. It's just a small quirky issue - the five appointed members of the Board wondered if Council member - the sixth LHA "member" - should get to vote. Why would there be a Board with an even number of votes? The details and chronology dug up by staff shows it all came to be about 6 years ago when there was a spot filled by Council member that previously had been a citizen's spot, then the citizen's spot was filled by a Council appointment.

Then the Council member started voting when he felt like it.

Now the only reason it deserves to be watched is that the Longmont Housing Authority's programming and efforts to provide affordable housing is funded by City Council vote. In the recent past, disagreements over how to prioritize spending federal funds granted for such programs have arisen between Council and the LHA. If the Council member spot is a voting spot, a tie vote can gum up the potential decisions of the LHA with a deadlock.