EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. – The interim executive director of the East St Louis Housing Authority has been suspended following a You Paid For It expose on horrendous conditions in an apartment in the Gompers Housing Project.
Meanwhile, Serria Hall, the mother of three whose bug-ridden apartment was featured in the FOX 2 report, has been moved to new residence in the Gompers development.
Interim Executive Director Angela Russell-Perry came under heavy fire after the story aired. The Housing Authority Board of Directors met Wednesday and decided to suspend her.
FOX 2 could not get hold of any members of the board. However, KaKeesh Branigan, a spokeswoman for East St. Louis Mayor Charles Powell III, said Russell-Perry would remain “suspended until further notice.”
The East St Louis City Council, which includes Mayor Powell, appoints the members of the Housing Authority board, but the board itself hires and fires the executive director.
Russell-Perry called FOX 2 the day after the report aired, saying she wanted to talk about what she was doing to make things right.
FOX 2 had asked Russell-Perry for her comment on the day the story ran, but she declined to comment at that time. She later told us many of the problems were outside her control, because there just wasn’t enough money.
We caught up with Serria Hall to get her thoughts on Russell-Perry’s suspension.
“To me, I feel like (she) deserved it, because way before I thought about you, I’m like, ‘I need help. I need to be moved. I need to be transferred.’ They never wanted to hear me out,” she said. “If you guys would not have gotten involved, I would still be living like this.”
This isn’t Russell-Perry’s first run-in with residents. FOX 2 covered a protest back in May at an East St Louis senior citizens building. A citizens group, led by Stephanie Taylor, had complained about the conditions and the lack of action by the Housing Authority to solve the problems.
When asked to rate Russell-Perry’s performance, Taylor said, “I would say bad job, cause nothing has been done, nothing has changed.”
There is a positive to report on Hall since our report. The Housing Authority is moving her to a new unit.
“I finally get the chance to move. My kids are happy they’re moving,” Hall said.
As for the suspended director?
“They didn’t want to do nothing, so my momma said, ‘Call the Channel 2 news, I’ll bet you they can help.’ I did. You came, you helped; so I don’t feel bad at all,” Hall said.
A source told FOX 2 that Russell-Perry came into the office, packed her belongings, and left the building. Workers still don’t know who will take over in the meantime.