A familiar face has returned to the Vicksburg Housing Authority staff six months after being fired by the executive director who was later fired.

Rita Cutley, whose job was ended Feb. 9 by former VHA Executive Director Jim Stirgus Sr., was back on duty at the public housing agency.

On March 6, after a marathon hearing, members of VHA Commission, four of whom were newly appointed, voted to back the termination. But on May 19, the commission voted to fire Stirgus.

Cutley, who had been a VHA employee for nine years, immediately filed paperwork stating her intent to sue the authority for wrongful termination. After negotiations between the VHA’s insurance company and Cutley’s attorney, new VHA Executive Director Dannie Walker said Cutley returned to her former position as manager of the 150 VHA apartments and homes in Waltersville Estates and Urban Court on Wednesday.

“I really didn’t anticipate coming back. I thought I was going to go through with my lawsuit, and I was surprised when they offered to bring me back,” Cutley said. “My attorney had told me it is extremely rare for someone to get a job back in these situations, so this was a first for him, too.”

The commission’s vote to reverse itself came “about two meetings ago” in closed session, said Commission Chairman Jay Kilroy. The vote was not made public until Wednesday, and Kilroy said he could not provide additional details.

“I would only say that new information came to light that we didn’t have when she was fired,” Kilroy said. “It was only our second week on the job when the hearing was held, and over the past six months a lot of new information has come to light that led us to this decision.”

Walker had no say in the rehiring of Cutley, as the commission had voted to rehire her before his taking over as director July 27. Nonetheless, he said he was glad to have her position filled — one of three management jobs at the VHA — as it had been vacant since her firing, leaving the other two managers to pick up the extra workload. 

“I don’t know what happened before I got here, and I’m not really concerned with that,” said Walker, who came to Vicksburg from Bessemer, Ala., with 18 years of housing authority experience. “It’s a new day. I told everyone when I arrived: Everyone starts with a clean slate and we move forward from here.” 

Stirgus, a former public school superintendent, headed the VHA for 21 years. At the time, he said he fired Cutley for repeated “insubordination.” Cutley contended Stirgus had been an unfair boss for years, and had fired her for cooperating with police and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development inspectors following the Dec. 19 arrest of former VHA Maintenance Supervisor Charles Jones Jr.

Jones, 45, 924 Bowmar Ave., is scheduled to go to trial Nov. 19 on charges of possession of cocaine and possession with intent to distribute. He is accused of having 2.2 pounds of cocaine shipped to him at VHA offices at 113 Elizabeth Circle. He also faces a separate embezzlement charge, stemming from a search of his home following his arrest that turned up a variety of merchandise police say was stolen from the VHA. That case has yet to go before a grand jury.

Stirgus is not charged with any wrongdoing, but has said he doesn’t trust the cases against Jones, in part due to his own longstanding differences with former Police Chief Tommy Moffett.

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Contact Steve Sanoski at ssanoski@vicksburgpost.com