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• 14th Floor
Jacksonville, FL 32202
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www.hslawyers.com
nhenrichsen@hslawyers.com

December 8, 2023

Via Electronic Mail Only

Michael T. Fackler MFackler@coj.net
City of Jacksonville Acting General Counsel
City of Jacksonville Office of the General Counsel
117 W. Duval Street, Suite 480
Jacksonville, FL 32202

Lawsikia J. Hodges LHodges@coj.net

City of Jacksonville Deputy General Counsel
City of Jacksonville Office of the General Counsel
117 W. Duval Street, Suite 480
Jacksonville, FL 32202

Re: Our Client: Dwayne Alexander

Dear Counsel:

Please be advised that this law firm has been retained by Mr. Dwayne Alexander in connection
with the investigation and prosecution of claims of unlawful retaliation in regard to his role as
CEO and President of the Jacksonville Housing Authority (“JHA”). We have been investigating
Mr. Alexander’s claims involving violations of state and federal laws by the Board of JHA,
including under the Florida Whistleblower Act, Fla. Stat. §§ 112.3187–112.31895, HUD
Whistleblower protections of 41 U.S.C. § 4712, City of Jacksonville Ordinance Code
Whistleblower Protection §§ 602.501 et seq. and 42 U.S.C. § 1983. We request that all
communications regarding these issues be only made through counsel.

As you are aware, Mr. Alexander was appointed Chief Executive Officer and President of JHA
on August 23, 2021 by the Board of Commissioners (the “Board”), who govern the agency
pursuant to the City of Jacksonville Ordinance Code. This was after Mr. Alexander had served as
interim president for approximately three (3) years and following a national search for this
position. Mr. Alexander has been a highly successful leader of JHA, having received outstanding

ATTORNEYS AT LAW WITH OFFICES IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA • FLORIDA • NEW YORK

A PROFESSIONAL LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY
Michael T. Fackler, Esq.
Lawsikia J. Hodges, Esq.
December 8, 2023
Page 2

performance evaluations by the Board. He is also a seasoned public housing and affordable
housing professional with almost 30 years’ experience, working in four (4) public housing
agencies and two (2) private sector property management companies.

To answer the call for affordable housing in the community, JHA has developed a pipeline of
affordable housing projects, such as adding an additional 1,000 plus units to the City’s housing
stock and development of vacant lots for two and three-bedroom duplexes to maximize the housing
footprint and stabilize neighborhoods with replacement housing.

Furthermore, JHA’s Compliance Department in fiscal year 2023 has worked to identify fraud and
bad debt, by, among other things, over 450 Section 8 file audits completed, public housing file
audits completed, and special audit referrals for investigation conducted.

Recently, as a result of Mr. Alexander’s leadership of JHA, the agency was awarded an A+ rating
by Standard & Poor’s, which enables the agency to issue bonds to further the efforts to develop
affordable housing. Additionally, at the August 2023 Annual Conference of the Florida
Association of Housing & Redevelopment Officials, JHA was recognized with awards for: (1)
Best Practices of a Large Agency, (2) Outstanding Large Agency, and (3) Outstanding Individual
for Mr. Alexander’s leadership at JHA. Recognizing Mr. Alexander’s progress and results, the
Board just recently disclosed to Mr. Alexander their intent to implement the four (4) year renewal
in his employment agreement and increase his compensation. Furthermore, Mr. Alexander was
awarded performance compensation as provided by his employment contract for the outstanding
evaluation the Board conducted regarding his work.

As you may be aware, JHA is an independent agency within the City of Jacksonville and is
governed by its Board. JHA derives most of its funding from the federal government’s Department
of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”). Mr. Alexander has been an outstanding steward of
HUD funds and there have not been any compliance issues with federal regulations because of Mr.
Alexander’s diligent leadership. In fact, one of the reasons for the outstanding recent evaluation
of Mr. Alexander by the Board is due to his work relating to the funds managed by JHA.
Michael T. Fackler, Esq.
Lawsikia J. Hodges, Esq.
December 8, 2023
Page 3

Despite the promises of compliance with the four year renewal provision of his employment
contract and discussion of increasing Mr. Alexander’s annual salary to be commensurate with
similar jurisdictions, the JHA Board leadership has suddenly changed its position. Now, the Board
leadership is asking Mr. Alexander to resign. We believe this is because of apparent outside
influence to remove Mr. Alexander from his position. We believe the cause to remove Mr.
Alexander from his position is related to his report to the JHA Board chair regarding retaliation.
This is protected activity by Mr. Alexander under both state and federal laws.

On December 7, 2023, a media outlet in the community confirmed through unnamed “sources”
that the Inspector General for the City of Jacksonville has been investigating certain JHA
programs. Nearly all of JHA’s funds come from HUD, the Inspector General’s investigation may
be related to a program outside its expertise but nevertheless has been in place for over 10 years
and prior to Mr. Alexander becoming CEO and President of JHA. HUD maintains substantial
safeguards and diligence regarding the use of federal funds by JHA, and JHA has been compliant
with its obligations throughout Mr. Alexander’s tenure as CEO and President. We believe that the
unnamed sources providing information to local media may be promulgating innuendo against Mr.
Alexander, i.e., pretext, to remove Mr. Alexander from his position. This appears to be unlawful
retaliation and Mr. Alexander will not hesitate to protect his rights under law.

I have been directed by my client to attempt a resolution of this matter prior to instituting litigation.
Mr. Alexander would like to have a productive and lawful workplace in which to perform his
important work for the community. We expect JHA’s Board would want the same.

Please contact me at your earliest convenience if JHA is interested in seeking to resolve these
issues and for additional information concerning Mr. Alexander’s claims.

This letter is sent without prejudice to all rights and claims of Mr. Alexander and should not be
construed as a waiver or modification of the same.

Very truly yours,

/s/ Neil L. Henrichsen

Neil L. Henrichsen
Michael T. Fackler, Esq.
Lawsikia J. Hodges, Esq.
December 8, 2023
Page 4

cc: Inspector General, City of Jacksonville, Matthew Lascell via email mlascell@coj.net