HACEP Chairwoman Kenna Ramirez reacted angrily this morning, following last night's surprise 3-1 vote to hire Gerry Cichon as executive director.

Ramirez left during the meeting, and was not present for the vote. Commissioners Jaime Rubinstein, Kevin Quinn and Reyna Brantner voter in favor, and Commissioner Larry Medina opposed. [npt report]

Thursday morning, she sent an email to the mayor, her fellow commissioners and Mayor John Cook about the events of the previous night.

She wrote that she had pushed to hire an executive director, and "I found resistance from both Kevin and Jaime, that they had a lot of commitments and work during the holidays." She wrote that she prevailed upon them to agree to the interview process, "and after the holidays we could bring the finalist back for a final round."

Ramirez wrote that she asked Rubinstein if any items needed to be moved up on the agenda, and was told no.

It was after she left that Rubinstein made the motion to hire Cichon.

"I invested my time, not only in the interview process, but meeting with the candidates, the residents and the staff to get their input, I made a personal commitments to the staff and the residents, that their opinions was going to be a factor in my decision, this decision I felt was my DUTY as a Commissioner and I feel betrayed I was not afforded the opportunity," she wrote. It was disrespectful of her and the public vote she represents, she wrote, that she was not given the chance to be part of the vote, especially when "neither Reyna, Kevin or Jaime took the time I invested on meeting with the candidates."

Ramirez said during an interview that the board had finished interviewing eight finalists Nov. 14, and the board had agreed that the next step would be to narrow it to three finalists.

Rubinstein denied that Ramirez had asked whether any important items needed to be moved up, and said the item was duly posted on the agenda, although Ramirez had noted that the item -- discussion and action on hiring an executive director -- was on every agenda as a standard item to allow commissioners to interview with and discuss candidates. .

"I don't want to get into a tit for tat," Rubinstein said. He also alluded to "outside interests" who were upset at actions he is taking as a commissioner, but he did not elaborate.

He did repeat his comment from Wednesday night that he was going to ask HUD to do a performance audit. Wednesday, he said that he wanted the audit in the interests of transparency, but he did not explain why the audit was needed now or to what elements of transparency he was referring.

He still must accept the contract, which was advertised at $150,000 a year.

Mayor John Cook, who is caught between two friends and allies -- Rubinstein, who campaigned for Cook, and Medina, with whom Cook served on City Council -- was not available for comment, but issued a statement via email.

"The staff prescreened the pool of some 85 applicants. The board looked at those who met the minimum requirements and interviewed the top candidates," read the statement. "I have full faith and confidence that the final selection by the board is a candidate who will be capable of leading the organization. It is unfortunate that there was not full agreement but given the diversity of the board that is not surprising."

He did not comment on the NPT report detailing the involvement of Commissioner Rubinstein in a $300,000 contract for the drug treatment group Aliviane to perform family counseling services. In the report, it was revealed that Rubinstein himself wrote bid specifications for the contract; the specs called for Aliviane to get the contract, although HUD had previously said the contract had to be let to bid. [npt report]

HACEP attorney Bob Blumenfeld wrote in an email that the specs provided by Rubinstein could not be used, and he suggested ways to create a legal bid.

HUD officials were not available for comment, but did issue a statement: “There are specific Federal and State standards for procurement, and HUD expects housing authorities to follow them. Housing Authorities are routinely counseled to be meticulous in their procurement activities, as this is an area that can be the source of serious problems. It would be surprising to HUD for a board member to be directly involved in the development of bid specifications in a housing authority the size of El Paso’s.”

In regards to the selection of an executive director, HUD wrote: "The selection of staff to operate a local Housing Authority is a local decision. HUD does not routinely get involved in local decision making, but always encourages PHA’s to recruit and select the best possible staff to serve our customers."