Renault Robinson, the embattled chairman of the Chicago Housing Authority, resigned Friday after more than three stormy years as head of the nation`s second-largest public housing authority.
Robinson`s resignation, announced by Mayor Harold Washington`s press office, was seen by many as an attempt by the mayor to eliminate the CHA as a political issue in the current mayoral race.
”Certainly, it was hurting” Mayor Washington`s reelection campaign, said Ald. Perry Hutchinson (9th), a Washington ally. ”There are 145,000 residents in the CHA who are not happy.”
Cook County Assessor Thomas Hynes, a mayoral candidate who called for Robinson`s resignation on Jan. 2, said Friday, ”The Washington administration was clearly fearful of a tenant revolt.”
Several of Washington advisors indicated privately that they were relieved by Robinson`s resignation. Although it climaxed a week of bad publicity for the mayor, it is likely to take the air out of what could have been a ballooning controversy over the leadership of the CHA, they said.
When asked about Robinson`s resignation at a voter registration rally Friday night, Washington said, ”You never feel good about things like that, but Mr. Robinson decided he was going to resign and I`ll just let it go at that.”
In a statement issued by the mayor`s press office, Robinson said, ”In recent days, it has become clear to me that, among all the pressing problems of the CHA, Renault Robinson himself has become a central issue . . .
”It is clear to me that I have done all that I can, and that the benefits of my energy and experience will be outweighed by the liabilities of the personal issues.”
Washington appointed Rev. B. Herbert Martin Sr., a Methodist minister who heads the Progressive Community Center and People`s Church, 56 E. 48th St., as interim CHA chairman. Martin, 44, a friend and pastor to the mayor, was appointed to the CHA board by Washington last Sept. 8.
During a press conference Friday, Martin declined to pass judgment on Robinson, saying: ”We`re not here to repeat the mistakes of the past or, for that matter, to repeat history. We`re here to make history and move forward from here.”
He said his priorities will be to upgrade maintenance, security and
”cleanliness” in CHA developments, adding that he will seek ”corporate Chicago`s” and the CHA`s tenants` cooperation in achieving those goals.
Robinson was the second top CHA official to resign since the agency became engulfed in controversy after it lost $7 million in federal funds and endangered $4 million more by missing a New Year`s Eve deadline for awarding contracts for elevator and security improvements at the Robert Taylor Homes.
On Jan. 7, Zirl Smith, a nationally respected housing expert, resigned as executive director after waging–and losing–a long-running battle with Robinson for day-to-day control of the CHA. Brenda Gaines, the mayor`s deputy chief of staff, is serving as interim executive director at the agency. According to Martin, she alone will be responsible for all day-to-day operations.
Ironically, the controversy over the $7 million was one of the Washington administration`s own making.
The loss of money was announced by Ernest Barefield, Washington`s chief of staff, in the late evening hours of New Year`s Eve. Both he and Robinson blamed Smith for the missed deadline.
Later, however, when Smith resigned, Robinson said only Jesus Christ could have done a better job than Smith had, and board member Earl Neal exonerated Smith of any responsiblity for the missed deadline.
This week, a Dec. 31 letter from local HUD administrator Gertrude Jordan to Robinson surfaced, and indicated that Robinson, who had been heading the CHA`s negotiations with federal officials, was the one responsible for the funding foul-up. In addition, the letter showed that Barefield had been a part of the funding talks at least since October.
Despite the controversy over the lost $7 million, Robinson`s resignation came as a surprise to many at City Hall and at the CHA. At other times when Robinson has come under attack, the mayor has stubbornly stood behind the man who was one of his earliest political supporters and a former campaign manager.
”It came as a complete and total shock,” said Joseph Gardner, Washington`s former top political aide and currently the deputy executive director for tenant services at the CHA. Gardner said he spoke to Robinson on Monday and the chairman was ”very perky and in good spirits.”
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Washington`s press secretary, Alton Miller, said Robinson originally offered to resign last week, but the mayor declined the offer.
Robinson, a founding member of the Afro-American Police League, was a moving force in a federal lawsuit during the 1970s that accused the city`s police department of discrimination in hiring and promotion practices.
That effort, which had national ramifications, led to the imposition of quotas that have resulted in city police and fire departments having many more blacks, Hispanics and women than in the early 1970s.
Former Mayor Jane Byrne appointed Robinson to the CHA board on June 28, 1979. By continuously fighting the then-chairman Charles Swibel and taking the side of the residents, Robinson became a folk hero in the public housing projects.
In 1982, Robinson was one of several black leaders who convinced then-U.S. Rep. Harold Washington to run for mayor and, in August of 1983, the newly elected mayor appointed Robinson as CHA chairman.
Almost immediately, Robinson tried to operate as both chairman and executive director. But he quickly became snarled in a series of
controversies, including the firing of nearly all of the CHA`s elevator repair workers and the hiring of his brother-in-law.
Soon after Smith was hired as executive director in April, 1984, Robinson began moves to take away Smith`s powers. By April, 1986, Robinson used CHA board support to regain full control of the authority, including
responsibility for the CHA`s legal, personnel and financial departments and for communication with federal officials.
In the aftermath of the $7 million loss, there were calls again for Robinson`s resignation, particularly from Hynes. But Washington seemed to be holding firm in support of his long-time political ally.
On Friday, Hynes said, ”I am glad he has done the right thing in resigning, but that is only the first step. The problems are profound, and the administration should move immediately to find a professional executive to run that agency.”
Another mayoral candidate, Ald. Edward Vrdolyak (10th), the head of the anti-administration bloc in the City Council, reacted much more sharply.
”He should have never been there in the first place,” Vrdolyak said.
”He`s not an administrator, not a business person. He`s just a political crony.”
Former Mayor Byrne, who is running against Washington in the Democratic primary, said Friday that the mayor was the main reason for the CHA`s problems.