Minneapolis NAACP Calls for Ouster of Public Housing Director Over Heritage Park Conditions

The Minneapolis NAACP is calling for the ouster of Minneapolis Public Housing Authority Executive Director Abdi Warsame, citing what the organization and residents described as an unacceptable and long-standing pattern of neglect at Heritage Park Apartments in North Minneapolis.

“The Minneapolis NAACP is demanding the immediate resignation or termination of Minneapolis Public Housing Executive Director Abdi Warsame due to the shocking level of neglect and failure at Heritage Homes,” said NAACP Vice President Thomas Berry.

The demands came Thursday during a news conference amid revelations around the substandard living conditions inside the 440-unit complex. Half of the units are either empty or unsafe.

The pressure began after Ward 5 Council Member Pearll Warren posted a video showing moldy walls and dirty floors inside the complex. Warren said the complex has become a “broken promise” of affordable housing in a historically underinvested area, and she toured the property documenting widespread damage, including leaky roofs and water and mold-stained walls.

NAACP Housing Chair Michael Smith called for a sweeping independent review of the city’s entire public housing portfolio.

“There’s 44 properties in Minneapolis Public Housing Agency that need to have an immediate investigation and an independent investigation outside of the city of Minneapolis,” Smith said. “We’re finding that with the extreme neglect that’s transpired with these particular entities in these spaces, having known and know people currently in the Heritage Park facilities, quite frankly, it’s heartbreaking that the city of Minneapolis let something like this transpire for so long.”

Heritage Park exists because of a lawsuit. Fourteen minority families and the Minneapolis NAACP filed suit in 1992 alleging that the city and federal housing agencies violated fair housing laws by deliberately concentrating public housing in Black neighborhoods. Rather than fight the case in court, the agencies agreed to a settlement known as the Hollman Consent Decree, which in 1995 committed them to demolish 770 units of segregated public housing on the Near North Side and replace them with a mixed-income community.

Warren, whose professional background includes serving as Homeownership Development Manager at Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity and as a HUD-certified housing counselor, replaced former Council Member Jeremiah Ellison, who did not seek re-election. She campaigned on “safe, suitable, and sustainable housing,” a pledge some civil rights activists say will upset the landlord developer class that has influenced the council for decades.

Minneapolis NAACP President Cynthia Wilson questioned how Warsame could remain as housing director amid the conditions Heritage Park residents endure.

“It’s interesting that they would make that claim, because if I hired you to do something and you’re doing nothing,” said Wilson, “then how are you keeping your job?”

Eddie Robinson, a 75-year old former Wired Systems Installer for the U.S. Army, lived at Heritage Park on a HUD-VASH voucher for homeless veterans until September 2024. Robinson paid $300 a month in rent and bounced around several units before taking his landlord to court. He described how property managers threatened eviction over a lease he said he never had.

“Property managers sent me a notice that if I don’t put my dog on a leash, that they’re gonna start filing eviction routines, because I violated my lease, but I have no lease.”

Since transitioning out of the HUD-VASH program, Robinson now pays $1,000 a month, month-to-month, with no lease, while conditions inside his unit remain largely unchanged. He and his wife have taken maintenance into their own hands.

“My wife put some weather surfing on the back door, but I don’t think I should have to do all that,” Robinson said.

He also described a dispute over a garage he was paying $90 extra per month for after another tenant damaged it. He said he came home to find maintenance staff using his tools to fix the garage door.

“When I got home, they were in the garage, working on the garage door, but they were using my equipment,” he said. “They’re gonna tell me they thought it was theirs. I had just, just paid $600 for this saw.”

In May 2026, a court stepped in to take control of Heritage Park after developer McCormack Baron Salazar’s poor financial management and deteriorating living conditions became public.

MPHA pushed back on calls for Warsame’s resignation.

“It is unfortunate that the local chapter of such a storied organization has rushed to judgement without first collecting basic facts,” MPHA said in a statement. “MPHA’s primary responsibility in the project was to send McCormack Baron Salazar HUD-calculated operating funding for 200 units designated public housing.”

Berry said the agency needed to get its priorities straight.

“I’ll say again, instead of them saying we’re rushing to judgment, why not rush to fix 200 units?” Berry said. “Why allow that level of mold, and then have families living in between.”

The City of Minneapolis said inspectors conducted building-by-building inspections of more than 400 units beginning in November 2025, with re-inspections beginning last month. The city is coordinating with the receiver, MPHA, and Minnesota Housing to deploy a $5.125 million award aimed at stabilizing the property.

Mayor Jacob Frey’s office declined to comment. None of the city’s 13 council members responded to requests for comment at the time of writing.

Clint Combs welcomes reader responses at combs0284@spokesman-recorder.com.