Manipulation, Retaliation, Humiliation and Assimilation: Welcome to MRHA 8: Resistance is Futile

When I think of the executives of MRHA, I think of the Borg. They move in to assimilate and continue to let the residents know that resistance is futile. They claim they’re in the housing business but they have very few obligations to the tenants but the tenants are burdened with a litany of requirements. For instance, in a city with one officer per shift, residents are evicted for defending themselves when attacked. There’s all this talk about people’s right to bear arms but a mother cannot protect her child and remain a resident. Interesting. At one point, residents were evicted for failure to pay a $13/month lawn care fee. Keep in mind that management moved them in knowing they had zero income but that didn’t matter. It was later discovered that residents could not be charged lawn care fees due to a HUD regulations but the tenants that were evicted were not permitted to return to the property.

Mississippi Housing Authority has several properties in Lumberton and they also funded the building of Azalea Gardens. They’re basically business partners with SMHD (South Mississippi Housing and Development Corporation) and they’re both housed in the same building on 10430 Three Rivers Road, Gulfport, MS. When you visit the SMHD website, it shows that there are several multimillion dollar properties that were funded by the MRHA 8 but for some reason, they don’t seem to have enough money to hire a full time manager for their Lumberton properties. Again. Interesting.

Apparently, MRHA 8 has enough clout that they can even dictate the passage of ordinances in Lumberton. It seems that the curfew ordinance of 2000 was at the behest of the MRHA executive director. At this moment, MRHA and the City of Lumberton are entangled in a lawsuit about the water meters placed on the properties in Lumberton. At this moment, there’s several vacancies on the property (something that could jeopardize the LIHTC unless someone is finagling the move out dates), there were two apartments that allegedly were mold infested and residents are still parking on the streets because of a lack of parking space but there’s plenty of money for security cameras and new LED lighting. Well, those are improvements. But it’s been two months and there’s no manager. Today, they’re doing like the missionaries and sending in Jessie Billups to calm the natives and introduce a ROSS (resident opportunities and self-sufficiency) service coordinator whose position is probably funded through a HUD grant. It seems that Dinah Griffin will be on hand to explain to residents opportunities that are available to help them increase their income. I wonder if she will explain why MRHA will not allow residents to apply for management positions; despite their experience/educational background. Wait a minute, that’s not correct. They will allow residents to apply for management positions but they will not hire them. I think there’s one person from Lumberton working for MRHA but somehow, their executive director has the ability to pull political strings in Lumberton all the way from Gulfport.