Housing Authority helps provide homes for many area families

By Steve Moyer

Nevada Daily Mail

The Nevada Housing Authority handles 200 units in two developments, Chapman Estates with 130 units and Fairground Estates with 70. In addition 75 families receive rental assistance from the authority to live in privately provided housing.

Occasionally situations come up when residents living in one of the complexes the housing authority runs violates the law, and that brings them into conflict with rules the authority has in place to protect the safety of other residents.

Recently one such conflict arose when Charles Shane Green pleaded guilty to a charge involving threatening someone with violence. After his guilty plea he was informed that he could no longer stay in or even visit the apartment of his wife April due to rules in place adopted from guidelines from the Department of Housing and Urban Development .

Green asked for a special session of the housing authority board to plead his case. A special session was held Friday, May 20. Green said that his offense wasn't a violent one but the board attorney, Brian Breckenridge, pointed out the policy stated that violence, attempted violence or threatening violence were all reasons to deny entry to the premises.

Green said that the reason he threatened the other man was that his family had been threatened. "I did threaten Travis, I told him I would kick his butt, and I admit that," Green said. "But the only thing I'm guilty of is trying to protect my wife and kids. Everyone in this room would fight for their wife and kids."

Breckenridge quoted from Case.net, a service that lists details of Missouri court cases, telling the board that in addition to the charges Green pleaded guilty to earlier this month he had pleaded guilty in 1998 to assault on a law enforcement officer and harassment to frighten or disturb another person in 1999.

David Bishop, a board member for eight years, stated he would rather err on the side of caution when deciding such cases. "I believe in strictly enforcing the policy for the safety of the residents," Bishop said. "Just because someone lives in low-income housing they shouldn't have to put up with dangerous conditions."