As the calendar turned and the Tulsa Housing Authority’s befuddling audit backlog crept from four years to five, members of the THA Board of Commissioners were told Thursday that a contracted auditing firm is “packaging” the organization’s 2021 audit in preparation to release it soon. The public housing authority last released an annual audit, for the year 2020, in December 2024.
“Regarding the 2021 audit, the report is dated for [Jan. 14) 2026, and CLA, the audit firm, is packaging the audit, and we anticipate receiving the final report within the next week,” Julie Ward, THA’s chief financial officer, told the board.
The update drew one comment from board members.
“Thank God,” said Kim Holland, a former state insurance commissioner. “It’s been a haul, and I appreciate all the work you’ve done.”
After the board meeting, Ginny Hensley, THA’s vice president of communications, said the agency would release its 2021 audit “any day now,” with work on the 2022 audit beginning immediately.
“Truly, any day now,” Hensley said. “Now that 2021 is effectively done, the work on 2022 will start.”
Asked about the board’s prior goal to complete three audits in 2025, Hensley cited a “perfect storm” of problems encountered last year.
“It really was truly a confluence of challenges, and it was a combination of staffing issues, and the third-party vendors we’ve worked with. We’ve had some challenges with that,” Hensley said. “There is a lot of things that came together to create a perfect storm in a way.”
New board chairperson named, Pioneer Plaza problem presented
A new year also meant a new chairperson for the Tulsa Housing Authority Board. Thursday’s meeting kicked off with a peaceful transfer of power, as former Chairman Rick Neal presented Debra “DJ” Morrow Ingram a wooden gavel to symbolize the occasion.
“We’re handing over the chairmanship today to DJ, who has of course been our vice chair, and I’m looking forward to her leadership going forward,” Neal said. “But as many of you know, she has a near obsessive commitment to Robert’s Rules of Order, so who knows where that is going to go.”
Morrow Ingram chaired the rest of Thursday’s meeting, where members of the THA’s leadership team provided an overview of the organization’s efforts in 2025, including praise for the Hilltop development and 36 North. Other highlights included THA decreasing their employee turnover rate to 34 percent, the acquisition of mobile hotspots for the THA office to provide Internet access during outages, and the creation of an intranet for THA employees called “The Porch.”
Left out of the reports were concerns raised by Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency employees late last year about the lack of audits.
While board members Sheila Johnson-Brown, Neal and Morrow Ingram’s terms are set to expire Jan. 20, no new board members have been announced by Mayor Monroe Nichols.
Asked in December if new board members had been selected for the housing authority, communications director Michelle Brooks said Nichols would “be announcing plans for the future of the THA board before the end of the year.” However, no such announcement has been made, and Brooks said Thursday she would check for an update on the topic.
One Tulsa resident spoke during the public comment portion of Thursday’s meeting. Cien Carmona said his friends live at the THA’s Pioneer Plaza, and he played a high-pitch sound from his phone when he spoke to the board.
“The sound that you’re hearing is an alarm that goes off a little bit after the staff leaves for the day (at Pioneer Plaza) and continues in the common areas until the staff gets there in the morning,” Carmona said. “You can imagine how frustrating that can be for the people who live there and want to use the common areas to be able to talk with their neighbors while this alarm is going on. I’ve noticed it pretty much every time that I’ve visited my friends on the weekends.”
Carmona told the board his friends who live at Pioneer Plaza asked him to speak to the board because they fear “reprisals” from the THA for filing a complaint. That prompted THA President Aaron Darden to respond.
“I can add, there is no reprisal if someone were to report that,” Darden said. “We actually encourage all residents to report maintenance issues. Obviously, Pioneer (Plaza) went through a substantial rehab fairly recently, so there absolutely could be something that is going on with that new system that was put in. We also have to have it reported to us before we can address anything.”
(Update: This article was updated at 2:15 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 15, to include additional information from Michelle Brooks.)
