The marriage between developer Frank Parlato Jr. and several prominent inner-city housing activists is off.
The activists are divorcing themselves from Parlato and his Neighbors Inc. over what they say is his method of operation. They contend Parlato is disorganized, doesn't consult with others in the group before acting, is preoccupied with garnering publicity and has made some questionable business decisions.
"The problem is not that Frank Parlato has bad intentions. But he is very difficult to work with," said Robert Meldrum, a founding member of Neighbors Inc. who has resigned as treasurer.
"He's a one-man band," Meldrum complained. "Some of the things he was doing could get us into legal trouble."
Other activists are less charitable in their assessment.
"I am suspicious that he wanted to use others to bring himself credibility," said Robert Sienkewicz, executive director of Broadway-Fillmore Neighborhood Housing Services and a key member of Neighbors Inc.
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Sienkewicz and several other members of Neighbors' advisory board have joined Meldrum in resigning from the organization.
Parlato chalks up the split to "conflicting styles." While he praised Meldrum and Sienkewicz, he disputed their criticism.
"It's easy to criticize and hard to build up. I'd like to be judged by the ultimate results," Parlato said.
Parlato and Meldrum, one of the city's leading housing activists, established Neighbors Inc. this summer as a non-profit corporation. Their intent: to buy houses owned by absentee landlords, repair them and sell to low-income families who would live in them.
Favorable publicity about the group in recent months prompted the absentee owners of more than 500 houses to offer their property for sale to Neighbors. Several hundred potential buyers also contacted Neighbors Inc.
Meldrum said that too often, Parlato did what it took to generate favorable publicity without tending to the details or consulting with others in the group.
Meldrum said he became increasingly concerned about the direction Parlato was taking Neighbors. Parlato's willingness to work with notorious landlords to repair and sell properties was especially troubling, Meldrum said.
Meldrum said he took exception to Parlato's attempt to persuade him to write Chief City Judge Frank A. Sedita Jr. last month, asking him for leniency in his sentencing of Lovejoy Council Member Norman Bakos. Bakos is one of the landlords who has expressed an interest in selling some of his property through Neighbors.
Parlato characterized his growing interaction with landlords such as Bakos, Michael Lewin and John Kausner as a healthy development because it may lead them to improve their properties and then sell to owner occupants.
Parlato doesn't dispute claims that he has been disorganized or that he wasn't able to come up with the cash he had promised to bankroll the operation. But he said a new advisory board met Wednesday to establish committees in a restructuring effort.
"My intentions are good," he said. "My true desire is to help conditions in the inner city."
Parlato and Meldrum agree on one thing: that the concept behind Neighbors is a good one.
"It's a worthy idea -- and workable," Meldrum said. "But it needs to have somebody else at the helm than Frank Parlato."
