Fair Housing Leader Fired Over Alleged Jewish Slur

The executive director of the Fair Housing Council of the San Fernando Valley has been fired after witnesses told the council’s board of directors that she called an ex-employee a “money-hungry Jew.”

Betty J. Bankhead, who was dismissed Monday night by a 10-4 vote of the board, denied making the comment. She was hired March 1 by the private nonprofit agency, which receives government funds to investigate complaints of housing discrimination.

The board’s action came after two witnesses said they overheard Bankhead make the comment June 20 in response to a letter from Susan Bilow, a former housing coordinator. In the letter, Bilow stated she was seeking compensation for vacation time she had accrued.

“I didn’t even know she was Jewish,” Bankhead said. “All I said was, ‘My God, Susan is so money-hungry. She’s after every penny she can get from the council.”’

Bankhead said she has consulted her attorney about taking legal action against the board because she believes she is the victim of a “power play” between warring factions.

Bankhead said Bilow, who worked part time, resigned her job after she was asked to work full time. Bilow could not be reached for comment.

Clarita G. Karlin, a board member and a prosecutor for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office, said she was convinced by the board’s interviews that Bankhead was accurately quoted by her accusers.

“There’s no way I would have made this decision if I was not convinced of the truth of the accusations,” Karlin said. “I’m a prosecutor, and I watch people’s reactions to spontaneous questions all the time.”

But board member James W. Smith said he was outraged at Bankhead’s ouster.

Smith said some longtime board members have been trying to get rid of Bankhead since she was hired over their favorite candidate for the job.

“I believe there were some surreptitious machinations that led up to the vote,” Smith said. “The vote was precipitated by hearsay, and it was without due process.”

He said the board is divided into an old guard, composed of longtime members, and a smaller group of new members. The newer members are more determined to end racial discrimination than the older group, he said, and yet they believe Bankhead is innocent.

“I think some of the old guard see the council as either a social club or a networking one,” he said.

Smith said board members Monday read a letter from Martha Avalos, a housing counselor now on leave from the agency. In the letter, Avalos said she overheard Bankhead using the ethnic slur in reference to Bilow, he said.

Smith said another employee, Patsy Espinosa, an administrative assistant, appeared before the board Monday and said she also overheard Bankhead.

Bankhead said she appeared before the board Monday and told members she did not make the comment. But two hours later, she said, she was informed that she had been dismissed.

The council was formed in the late 1960s to investigate complaints of housing discrimination, said Marcella Brown, executive director of the Fair Housing Congress of Southern California, which oversees the six councils in the city and county of Los Angeles.

In addition to investigating specific complaints of discrimination, the council sends checkers several times a year to apartment houses in the Valley.

Legal action is taken against landlords if they deny housing to black applicants with the same credentials as white apartment-seekers.