By Rob Wheary
SHAMOKIN - A city landlord says the Shamokin Housing Authority is withholding federal rent subsidies, which is forcing his tenants to move and threatening his livelihood.
Barry Getchey, owner of an apartment building on North Sixth Street, has picketed several times over the past month in front of the authority's downtown office to protest the agency not paying three months worth of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Housing Choice Voucher funds, approximately $10,000.
"They are trying to run me out of business; all of these charges are lies," Getchey said. "They have dug themselves such a hole and will tell all lies to get themselves out of it."
But the authority, backed by HUD, defended its stance, which is based on alleged code violations at Getchey's building. A hearing on those violations is set for Monday before Magisterial District Judge John Gembic III, and a civil suit and countersuit by the authority is scheduled to be heard by Gembic March 1.
Meanwhile, Getchey on Friday acknowledged he offered the authority chairman $300 to help him get the situation settled, but says it wasn't a bribe.
'Rightfully abated'
Getchey contacted U.S. Rep. Tom Marino (R-10) for assistance, but a subsequent letter to Marino from Jane C.W. Vincent, regional administrator for HUD's Philadelphia Regional Office, said the federal organization is siding with the authority.
"After reviewing and investigating Mr. Getchey's complaint, HUD finds that the authority properly followed regulations," Vincent wrote. "Rent payments were rightfully abated due to Mr. Getchey not allowing the SHA back in to reinspect the apartment."
Getchey said the problems started after September's historic flooding when the furnace at his building stopped working.
"The furnace was under water and I was working with the plumbers to get it fixed, but on Sept. 24, I suffered a heart attack and we had to reschedule," Getchey said.
According to the city's housing code, heat must be provided to all units after Oct. 1, so Getchey said he made provisions.
"I provided electric heaters for all the residents and told them, whatever the difference was in their bills, let me know and I would reimburse them," Getchey said.
The furnace was fixed in November, with the building checked again, this time by Shamokin code enforcement officer Rick Bozza and authority Executive Director Ron Miller.
Fixing problems
In a letter to Miller dated Nov. 17, Bozza said all of the individual apartments had sufficient heat in them.
"He put about 40 to 45 gallons of fuel in the furnace that day and got it working," Miller said Friday, suggesting it was a temporary fix.
However, Bozza found other problems.
"There are no fire extinguishers in the hallways on any floor. There aren't any lighted or non-lighted exit signs and there are numerous emergency light lenses missing," he wrote to Miller. "There is a potential mold issue on the stairway in the front of the building."
After the issues were explained to Getchey, Bozza wrote that the landlord said he would be correcting them as soon as possible. On the mold, the letter states that Getchey was waiting for the next rain to determine the exact location of leaks and be sure he could fix them before addressing the mold.
"As far as the fire extinguishers," Getchey said in a recent interview, "kids came in and discharged them, and we cleared that out. But I can't control what kids do."
He said he does want a safe building.
"My son lives there. Why would I have my son living in a building as bad as they say it is?" Getchey said. "There is no reason to withhold the money from me."
While Getchey wants his payments for November, December and January, the authority's countersuit is to have Getchey return his HUD money from October, arguing the code violations - including the lack of heat - existed at that time and that he shouldn't have been paid.
Miller said he would not comment further on the matter because of the pending legal proceedings.
"He is saying we owe him money, and we feel that he owes us money, so that's where it stands," Miller said Thursday.
Bozza did say that some of the code violations he filed may have been based on incorrect information provided by the authority, but he didn't want to discuss it further in light of Monday's hearing.
Hardships
Out of nine HUD-assisted tenants in Getchey's building in September, only two currently remain, according to Miller.
"We have an obligation to provide safe, affordable housing for those who need it," Miller said. "As the economy gets worse and dollars are hard to come by, some people want more, but don't want to fix up their buildings to bring them up to par."
Getchey said there are four tenants, and that the loss of HUD money is causing a hardship for them.
"There are some that their rent was $550, and $400 of that came from HUD money. When that money disappeared, I lowered their rent to $300, but they have to pay all that," he said.
Phone message
The newest wrinkle in this dispute came at a housing authority board meeting Thursday night, when authority Chairman Raymond "Jerry" Splane asked solicitor James Rosini if he could play a voice mail he received from Getchey so that it would become part the minutes. Authority members heard the message in a previous executive session, but Rosini advised him not to play it publicly. He said it could be something that should be played for the district attorney's office.
Asked Friday if he knew what the message was about, Getchey said, "Yeah, I said I would give Jerry (Splane) $300 if he would help me get my check. I would have gladly given him it if he helped me get the money, but it wasn't a bribe."