Friday, June 27, 2003 | 9:40 a.m.
Calling attorney William "Bill" Gonzalez "a young man I have an awful lot of confidence in," Mayor Oscar Goodman appointed the deputy public defender to the beleaguered Las Vegas Housing Authority board on Thursday.
It was the second appointment of a lawyer to the commission by the prominent Las Vegas attorney-turned-mayor in recent weeks. Gonzalez also is the fourth member appointed by Goodman in the past two weeks.
Gonzalez, 41, replaces Christopher Hoye, a Metro Police lieutenant, who city officials discovered this week had moved out of the city four years ago.
A city ordinance passed in 1990 requires board members to maintain residency in the city. Hoye was a city resident when he was appointed in 1998, but not when he was reappointed in 2002.
The Housing Authority was to meet today.
Goodman said Gonzalez's master's degree in business administration and his "sensitivity" toward poor people developed while defending clients who cannot afford representation impressed Goodman.
"I think my business background will give me the kind of experience needed to evaluate the situations we will face," Gonzalez said. "I'm excited for the opportunity to work with the other new members. I'm ready to roll up my sleeves and get things done."
Gonzalez, a Summerlin resident, comes aboard the agency at a troubled time. A federal Housing and Urban Development Department report criticized contracting and oversight procedures of the agency between 1999 and 2002. The report found problems with five contracts worth $158,000.
A recent burglary of a Housing Authority office resulted in travel and finance records of officials turning up missing. Residents also have appeared in large numbers at recent meetings to complain about apathy toward their needs.
Gonzalez said "I want to reserve judgement" on those matters until after he has familiarized himself with the issues. He said prior to being sworn in Thursday afternoon that he would pick up the HUD report and read it that night.
Goodman has asked HUD to conduct a full audit of the agency and provide training for its board members, which HUD officials have committed to do within 30 days. Goodman said Thursday he will keep after HUD to conduct the audit and provide training within the next two weeks.
"I want to put all of this behind us," Goodman said of the problems that plague the 56-year-old Housing Authority, which serves about 16,500 seniors and low-income residents, provides 6,800 units of affordable housing and operates on a $65 million annual budget.
Goodman previously replaced three of the five board members -- two whose terms expired -- with Las Vegas Constable Robert "Bobby G" Gronauer, federal Public Defender Franny Forsman and commercial developer Don Davidson. The other member of the board is current Vice Chairwoman Beatrice Turner, who was appointed last November.
Gonzalez said a new board "gives us a fresh start to deal fairly and effectively" with HUD, the agency and its tenants.
Earlier this year Gonzalez, a former insurance company lawyer who has been with the Public Defender's office since March 1999, ran for Las Vegas municipal judge, losing in the primary for the post eventually won by former Deputy District Attorney Abbi Silver.
Goodman said he was impressed by how Gonzalez campaigned and with his desire to make a difference and improve his community.
Gonzalez earned a bachelor's degree in business management from the University of Redlands in 1991, a master's of business administration in international management in 1992; and a Juris Doctorate from Brigham Young University in 1997.
He was employed by a Southern California telephone company for more than eight years while going to college.
Following graduate school, Gonzalez worked for State Farm Insurance as a property claims adjuster.
In 1994 he went to law school. Following graduation, he worked for Barker, Brown, Busby, Chrisman and Thomas of Las Vegas as an associate attorney litigating insurance defense cases -- many of them dealing with construction defects -- before accepting the public defender's job.
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