Tribal Leader To Head Housing Program Johnson Says She’ll Still Be Advocate For Tribes

Alaska native Jacqueline Johnson, who rose from office clerk to national tribal leader, will take charge of the troubled federal Indian-housing program.

Her selection for the $108,000-a-year post at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) was announced Wednesday.

The hiring represents an abrupt shift in direction for Johnson, who just weeks ago was vigorously representing tribes in negotiations with HUD over a new set of regulations for the abuse-plagued program.

She’ll now be sitting on the other side of the table.

“It will be difficult; that’s something I’ve thought tremendously about,” said Johnson, who for three years has been chairwoman of the National American Indian Housing Council, which represents 158 tribal-housing authorities.

But she said she doesn’t intend to abandon her role as tribal advocate and will continue to represent tribal interests at HUD.

“HUD knows I’m a tribal member,” she said. “I probably won’t agree with all of HUD’s positions. I may have to remain silent (in public) when I disagree. But I’ll be a strong advocate within HUD to ensure they understand tribal issues.”

That has caused some to question how well she can represent the government’s interests in a program with a history of conflict and abuse.

The $600 million-a-year program was the subject of a recent Seattle Times series that documented widespread problems, including the use of federal aid for large houses and expensive remodeling jobs for tribal officials and their relatives.

“I am questioning whether she can effectively represent HUD, and the taxpayers and the Indians that actually need housing, rather than the tribal councils or the Indian-housing authorities,” said Poo-sa-key, a Bandon, Ore., Native American who frequently has criticized HUD’s tribal programs. “Rather than tightening regulations, I fear she’s on the side of loosening them so that nobody will get arrested.”

Many tribal-housing leaders voiced strong support for Johnson.

“I think it’s a bright day in Indian housing,” said Frank Peratrovich Jr., executive director of the Cook Inlet Housing Authority in Anchorage. “I can think of no one better suited or better prepared to take on that important role.”

Kevin Marchman, assistant acting secretary for public and Indian housing, said he doesn’t expect Johnson to have any trouble making the transition from advocate to regulator. He said he chose Johnson because she has “regulatory experience, compassion and a tough hand.”

Johnson will start her new job at a turning point for the program. A new law replaces an array of tribal-housing initiatives with one streamlined, block-grant program that gives tribes wide latitude in how they spend the money.

Proposed regulations for the law are awaiting federal review after a year of negotiations between HUD officials and tribal leaders, including Johnson.

Johnson aggressively argued that shifting more responsibility from HUD to tribal leaders will make the program more efficient and less prone to waste and abuse. Tribal members will hold their leaders accountable, she said.

Eugene McArthur, chairman of the White Earth Band of Chippewas in northern Minnesota, said he wants to see whether Johnson will represent the interests of tribal members as well as she does their leaders.

“I don’t know where her loyalty will stand. I just hope she does the best job for everyone,” said McArthur, a reformer who took over leadership of Minnesota’s largest tribe last year and blamed HUD for serious corruption in the tribal-housing authority.

In addition to heading the housing council, Johnson has run the Tlingit-Haida Regional Housing Authority in Juneau since 1989. The single mother of four started her career there as a low-level employee in 1983 and moved up to executive director, managing 750 units for 17 tribes.