No charges in housing board probe

A criminal investigation into questionable payments made to two former Shawano Housing Authority board members has concluded with no charges being filed. Charlene Helms and Glenn Wille were apparently paid for work at the Housing Authority while Helms was serving as board chairman and Wille was a board member. The state Division of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) investigated the payments, which authorities had previously said could have violated state statutes covering governmental conflict of interest and ethical rules set down by HUD prohibiting compensation for sitting board members. However, Housing Authority Board Chairman Joel Whitehouse revealed at a board meeting Thursday that the DCI had recently informed him the case was being closed and there would be no prosecution. “They didn’t feel there was enough grounds to pursue it,” Whitehouse said. Whitehouse offered no opinion of the DCI decision. “It is what it is,” he said. The Housing Authority’s check register, obtained by the Leader through an open records request, showed Wille received six checks, totaling $2,226, in November and December. Helms received three payments, totaling $1,944, while serving as board chairman. Daily operations at the Housing Authority office were being run by Helms, with assistance from Wille. In an interview with the Leader, Helms said at the time both she and Wille were charging $18 an hour for their services. Helms said she was not sure whether the board was aware of the contracted services arrangement with her and Wille. She said, however, that the Housing Authority office had standing permission to deal with staffing issues as needed. Helms resigned as board chairman in November to temporarily become the authority’s housing coordinator. She was terminated a month later when HUD denied an after-the-fact waiver of a rule prohibiting board members from taking a job with the authority. Wille, who resigned from the board in January, has since returned the money paid to him, but no effort is planned to recover the money paid to Helms. “This board is taking no action with respect to the Helms money at this time,” board member Paul Winter said.