Donald Sampson, director of the Pine Bluff Economic and Community Development Department, was back at work Tuesday after a 10-day suspension handed down by Mayor Carl A. Redus Jr.
Sampson confirmed by telephone that he had returned to work. He declined additional comment.
Redus, who oversaw daily operations during Sampson’s absence, said Feb. 2 the suspension resulted from Sampson’s failure to meet the deadline for a Neighborhood Stabilization Program Three grant through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The grant, administered by the Arkansas Development Finance Authority, could have potentially brought about $955,000 to the city.
The grant would have financed a program to purchase vacant, foreclosed residential properties so that they could be refurbished and sold. The goal is to prevent vacant, run-down properties from causing nearby property values to fall and contribute to the development of blighted neighborhoods, according to the ADFA website.
The Economic and Community Development Department already administers several HUD-funded programs to improve the city’s housing stock, but this would have been a new program for the city, Redus said.
The Commercial filed an Freedom of Information Act request for documents used in making the decision. According to the response from city Human Resources Director Vickie Conaway, no documents were associated with the decision.