OCHA Chair Bob Barr Talks Investigation After Executive Director Admits To Embezzlement

OCEAN CITY, NJ — Earlier this week, Ocean City Housing Authority (OCHA) Chairman and City Councilman Bob Barr told various media outlets he was shocked that OCHA’s Executive Director had embezzled federal money intended for use by the housing authority, but the news didn’t come as a complete surprise to him.

On Monday, Executive Director Alesia Watson, 54, of Galloway, admitted that she embezzled between $6,500 and $15,000 in funds received by the authority from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Barr said he the other members of the housing authority were unaware that she was even under investigation until the news came out on Monday.

On Thursday night, Barr explained that the housing authority’s finances were in such poor condition, he suspected something was off.

“The reports were inadequate and inaccurate,” Barr said, explaining that while the numbers varied, reports had been off by thousands of dollars at a time.

OCHA met in executive session in March to discuss the discrepancies, at which time Barr urged the other members of the Board of Commissioners to terminate a shared services agreement between Ocean City and Brick that allows them to share an executive director. Ocean City pays Brick $61,600 for Watson’s services, according to the minutes of OCHA’s Feb. 25, 2016 meeting.

The agreement dates back to 2014. Both agencies administer affordable housing programs for low-income seniors and the disabled in their respective towns.

Barr said OCHA’s Board of Commissioners couldn’t come to a consensus during the executive session, so his suggestion was tabled. The minutes from that meeting have not yet been approved, and are therefore unavailable to the public at this time. On April 5, Barr said OCHA learned a lot about just how much money it owed the city.

“We knew we owed the city $106,000, but then we discovered we owed (an additional) $141,000 that had not been in any report before,” Barr said. “We had $800,000 five years ago. Now, we have about $200,000. We owe the city more than we have.”

As executive director, Watson had access to two credit cards maintained by OCHA. She admitted that from December 2013 through March 2015, she bought 69 MasterCard gift cards using the housing authority’s credit cards, Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick said on Monday.

She then used the gift cards for personal expenses not related to the housing authority. She also admitted to allowing her friends and family to use those cards, according to authorities.

Watson used the funds received from HUD and administered by the housing authority to pay the credit card bills associated with the purchase of the gift cards. On Monday, she pleaded guilty to an information charging her with one count of embezzling federal funds received from HUD and administered by the housing authority to which she was not entitled. Her sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 15.

Meanwhile, a hearing on her status with Brick was scheduled for Friday. OCHA will discuss the situation at its regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday. At that time, regardless of the decision from the Brick Housing Authority, Barr will once again recommend terminating the shared services agreement.

At Thursday night’s City Council meeting, Barr fired back at an editorial in a local newspaper that questioned “What did the Housing Authority board know and when?” In Barr’s mind, the editorial suggested the housing authority knew Watson was embezzling money and did nothing about it.

“To say that we were hiding something couldn’t be further from the truth,” Barr said. “I spearheaded the effort to remove the management team in March. On two occasions, I called a meeting with the mayor and his senior staff. They were aware of the condition we were in. … I would never hide anything. No federal investigator ever contacted me, and if they did, I would’ve shared my concerns.”

Following the meeting, Barr said OCHA has been aggressively discussing the issue for the better part of a year. He said if OCHA agrees to terminate its contract with Brick, it would have to install an interim executive director while finding a permanent replacement. OCHA can then begin to dig its way out of the financial hole it finds itself in.

Patch file photo of Bob Barr