Philip D. Brown

Richmond County Daily Journal

Rockingham native and businessman Ron Ballard has been appointed the newest member of the Board of Directors of the Rockingham Housing Authority.

Following the announcement of Ballard’s appointment Tuesday, Rockingham Mayor Gene McLaurin said there will most likely be another new face on the board in the near future.

Ballard will replace board member George Stone, who resigned his position before the September meeting citing personal reasons.

He said Tuesday that much of the information he has about the joint local and federal investigation into the agency’s financial dealings has come from the local press.

“I’m probably as familiar as most people in Rockingham (with the situation at

the RHA),” Ballard said. “I hope I can bring to the equation some oversight, ask the hard questions and get some good definite answers from the new director.”

Ballard retired with 20 years of experience as a sales manager for an auto parts company, and has personally owned and operated businesses in Rockingham and Hamlet, according to a press release from the city.

The release also says he and his wife Sylvia are members of the First United Methodist Church in Rockingham, where he serves as a lay leader.

Ballard said he sees his responsibility as a board member of the housing authority to be “a good steward of the funds (Housing and Urban Development) give us for public housing in Rockingham.”

He said he also feels his experience as a manager of a small business gives him some insight in dealing with finances.

“And also, in dealing with people,” Ballard said. “I think I can provide oversight in situations and budgets, so I feel like this will be a good venture for me.”

He said he wouldn’t describe his task as accounting “for every dollar that is spent.”

“I do feel like we should account for the money that is spent on public housing, though,” he said.

McLaurin said he’s known Ballard for years as an acquaintance, and was impressed with his preparedness when he met with him to discuss the appointment.

“He asked some really pointed questions, and that impressed me,” McLaurin said. “He also didn’t make a snap decision - he thought about it before he accepted it.”

He said Ballard’s experience in business helps “to round out the board.”

“I feel like we have a good cross-section of people who are knowledgeable in different areas,” he said. “I want those diverse skills, and people who bring something to the board, and I have a lot of confidence in the board we have now and I have a lot of confidence in Ron.”

McLaurin said Ballard can’t be described “as a rubber-stamp type of person.”

“He has good business experience and a willingness to ask questions,” he said. “I think it’s good to have individual people on the board, and coming through what we’ve been through, and in talking to HUD officials, they said that’s one thing they would like to see - good, strong, independent board members.”

More than any other factor in the decision, McLaurin stressed Ballard’s integrity and judgment as motivating factors in the choice.

In addition to Tuesday’s appointment, he said he is also considering appointing someone who lives at the housing authority to the board by the beginning of next year.

“I hope to appoint at least an ex-officio (non-voting) member to the board who is a resident of public housing, and I feel like that would be a good goal by the first of the year,” McLaurin said.

He explained the resident may have to be an ex-officio member because the board’s by-laws state it will have five voting members, and city council may have to alter its charter to increase that number.

“I think a resident could keep the board aware of concerns, because a resident of the housing authority may be reluctant to come to the board meeting and voice those concerns,” he said.

McLaurin described appointing a resident to the board as “a liaison between the board and the residents.”

“That’s much the same reason I appointed (Rockingham Assistant City Manager) Sabrina McDonald to the board, so she could serve as a liaison between the board and city government,” he said.

When Denise Sullivan accepted the chair of the RHA Board of Directors in August, appointing a resident to the board was her first suggestion, along with the publication of a newsletter to keep residents abreast of the dealings of the RHA.

She cited HUD requirements that larger housing authorities have this, while it is done on a voluntary basis for agency’s the size of the one in Rockingham.

At their September meeting, McDonald presented the board with an application for residents to fill out for the position, and all agreed it was adequate.