PHA chief Carl R. Greene is fired

The Philadelphia Housing Authority's Board of Commissioners on Thursday fired Executive Director Carl R. Greene for his alleged sexual harassment of four female subordinates, ending his 12-year reign as the city's autocratic yet highly acclaimed public-housing czar.

Former Mayor John F. Street, the PHA chairman, described Greene as a "flawed genius" moments before the board voted, 4-1, to terminate his $306,000-a-year contract. An internal investigation had concluded that Greene was a "true serial sexual harasser" and had engaged in a cover-up with at least four key aides.

"He is like a great athlete with a drug problem. He is the Tiger Woods of public housing," Street said of Greene, whom he had staunchly supported before news of three secret sexual-harassment settlements worth $648,000 broke in August. A fourth settlement, for $250,000, had also been agreed upon without the board's knowledge, but not signed.

"He has a fundamental character flaw that will forever obscure his work as the greatest executive director in the history of the Philadelphia Housing Authority," Street said.

Greene, lauded here and across the country for revitalizing entire neighborhoods and remaking the face of public housing in Philadelphia, was suspended by the board in August with pay pending its review, which is now complete.

Greene initially went into seclusion and then signed himself into a medical facility in Maryland, where he was treated for stress.

His attorney, Clifford E. Haines, said Thursday before the board's vote that Greene was now being treated as an outpatient, but that he could not provide any other details on Greene's medical condition.

Haines, who has already sued the PHA board in federal court on Greene's behalf, said his client had never been asked for his version of events. He added that Street, as board chairman, did not have the "authority" to investigate Greene and release the results.

"The resolution of those disputes are in a courtroom. . . . They do not belong on a street corner," he said. "Doing it in a public fashion is not appropriate."

Haines accused Street, a lawyer, of acting unethically in issuing the board's findings and making public statements about Greene's conduct.

"He can't hold a license to practice law and act the way he is acting," Haines said. "I intend to notify the disciplinary board that his behavior should be reviewed."