According to one report, Mayor Vince Gray's new housing chief appointee Michael Kelly is so fresh off of a scandal-fueled resignation at the Philadelphia Housing Authority that his old desk chair is probably still spinning.
ABC News Philadelphia reports:
PHA staffers had complained to HUD (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) officials that Kelly was having a consensual affair with a woman he had appointed to a senior staff position and, that despite having little or no credentials for the post, he was approving her for large pay increases.
After questions began to be raised, the 38-year-old woman who was here on a work visa suddenly resigned three weeks ago and went back to her native country.
Kelly himself resigned Friday citing family reasons.
On Saturday the Philadelphia Inquirer tried to get to the bottom of Kelly's sudden resignation:
"It's for personal reasons," Kelly said after a Board of Commissioner meeting Friday morning. He added: "I can tell you there will be news very soon to explain this." Kelly said that news would come within a week.
And on Monday, Mayor Gray's office announced that Kelly would be heading the District's Department of Housing and Community Development.
While it isn't certain that Kelly's alleged misbehavior as PHA executive director is what prompted his resignation, this isn't a good look for the embattled Gray, who's been struggling with the fallout from odd appointment decisions since the beginning of his term. Gray is also currently under federal investigation.
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Kelly will need to be confirmed in his new role by the D.C. Council.
