Board boss says claim ‘stolen’ VHA property

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, April 22, 2009

As much as $6,000 worth of property confiscated after the drug arrest of a Vicksburg Housing Authority supervisor in December was definitely purchased with VHA funds and must be reclaimed or lost, the new chairman of the public housing agency board said during a marathon meeting Tuesday night.

“I don’t have any doubt in my mind the property was Vicksburg Housing Authority property,” Jay Kilroy told the four other members of the management commission. “If we don’t pursue some sort of action to get it back we’re going to lose it. I would like to pursue filing charges or start an investigation concerning that property so that we can eventually get it back. This is a lot of money.”

Fired afterward by long-time VHA director James Stirgus Sr., Charles Jones Jr., 45, was arrested by police and state drug officers Dec. 19 when he picked up a package mailed to him at the VHA office. Investigators said the package contained cocaine.

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In a subsequent search of Jones’ home on Bowmar Avenue, police found stockpiles of packaged items — window air conditioners, water heaters and power tools — and cases of beer. All of it was confiscated, plus six vehicles, a dune buggy and other property.

Drug charges are pending against Jones, but no charges related to the items have been filed. Stirgus has said he didn’t believe the property belonged to the VHA and voiced support for Jones, whom he had trusted as a long-time friend and co-worker.

The arrest brought a simmering feud between Stirgus and Police Chief Tommy Moffett into an open verbal combat that continued Tuesday. Stirgus has said Moffett was not doing enough to keep drugs out of VHA developments and Moffett has said the commission needed to provide more oversight of Stirgus.

Vicksburg officials appointed four new commissioners to the five-member panel in February and Kilroy, elected chairman, said a comprehensive review of policies and practices would be undertaken.

At Tuesday’s regular monthly meeting, Kilroy said he and board vice chairman Christopher Barnett went to the Vicksburg Police Department to view the seized property and paperwork showed it was purchased by Jones with public funds.

Kilroy said he and Barnett saw receipts for items purchased in 2007 and 2008 that were signed by Jones and had purchase order numbers from the VHA. Serial numbers on the property and receipts matched, he added.

Stirgus asked Kilroy to bring the evidence to him for cross checking it against VHA documents and invoices. Although he has not seen the property, Stirgus said once again that the property was not stolen from the housing authority and that he does not trust Moffett.

The chief attended the meeting, but was refused a place on the agenda at the outset of the four-hour session. Bylaws require three days advance notice. Moffett was, however, allowed to speak on the topic of the seized property.

“If Mr. Stirgus is not correct in calling me a liar, as he continues to do, let’s assume I’m telling the truth. If I’m correct, are you willing to do what’s necessary to get your property back — including prosecuting the person who stole it?” Moffett asked. 

Stirgus said he would cooperate with authorities in cross-checking their evidence with VHA invoices and other documentation, but said he would not tolerate being “run over” by Moffett in the process.

“If you give me the paperwork we’ll go through the protocol to see if it’s ours. I’d do that any day,” Stirgus told Moffett. “But chief, you are not going to run over me — I’m going to tell you that right now. You were lying and you’re still lying.”

To ensure Stirgus will cooperate, the police subpoenaed him Tuesday to provide “information that will assist us in identifying additional property,” Moffett said. Stirgus acknowledged receiving the subpoena and said he had already gathered much of the requested information.

The board did not get to the issue of the seized property until three hours into the meeting, which was largely spent going over disputed meeting minutes dating back to February. With the exception of Kilroy, most of the board members remained silent during the discussion and some did not want to discuss the matter at all.

“I really don’t think Chief Moffett should be here. We should not be discussing this,” said Ella Lee — the only member not replaced by the Vicksburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen. Her term was not expired, as were three others. The fourth replacement was a commission member, Charles Abraham, who died.

Kilroy said the city will auction off the items on which the board does not take action, although he did not know when that could happen.

Grand jury action is pending for Jones. Authorities said the 2.2 pounds of cocaine that was delivered through the mail to him at the VHA administrative office at 131 Elizabeth Circle had a street value of about $100,000.

Jones had worked for VHA since 1983 and had been in charge of maintenance, purchasing and receiving since 1991. Moffett has said he believes Jones was selling cocaine to residents of housing authority properties, which include about 430 apartments in Waltersville Estates, Valley Court, Urban Court and Cedars Estates.

All five commissioners were present at Tuesday’s meeting, including Kilroy, Barnett, Lee, Abraham Green and Charles Wright. The next regular meeting is May 19.

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Contact Steve Sanoski at ssanoski@vicksburgpost.com