Is PHA's Greene Controversy Distracting Agency From Work?

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - A group fighting urban blight wants to have a meeting with the Philadelphia Housing Authority to determine whether the Carl Greene controversy has been a distraction in tending to boarded-up, vacant homes under PHA control.

They gathered along South Yewdall Street, just off Woodland Avenue in the Kingsessing section, and cast their gaze on a half-dozen boarded up homes along that block.

"It just isn't safe," Christine Miles said.  She added she's disturbed that some vacant homes sit for years on end with no regular upkeep.  "If they fix it up, it brings up the value of the neighborhood, it makes the kids walk safely, and the elders will come out.  I would be scared to walk past it, something like this, here."

Amanda Koprowski is with the community organization Action United:

"We were surprised in tracking down the owners of these properties that a number were owned by PHA."

Action United is concerned that distraction at the management level has led to trickle-down dysfunction on the ground.  The PHA did not return calls seeking comment.

Reported by KYW Newsradio's Steve Tawa