The government is reviewing PHA contracts to the law firm where former mayor John Street's son worked.
A Philadelphia Inquirer report details millions of dollars paid to Wolf, Block, Schorr and Solis-Cohen, before the law firm shut down in 2009.
Sharif Street was an associate there until 2008.
In 2004, then-Mayor John Street appointed himself to the Philadelphia Housing Authority board and was named its chairman. The Inquirer reports its investigation of PHA board minutes discovered that six times between 2004 and 2008, Street voted in favor of awarding PHA contracts to Wolf Block.
On Friday, HUD called for Street and the other four PHA board members to resign, saying the agency could recover faster if the current board would step aside and allow temporary federal oversight.
In a statement released on Saturday, Philadelphia Housing Authority Chairman and former Mayor John Street said "no."
"We share HUD's interest in improving PHA's operations and we stand ready to fully cooperate with HUD as we have done in the past," Street said in a statement released to the press. He also said "resigning is unwarranted."
Politics
A special meeting of the PHA board was set for Mar. 4 to consider HUD's request.
Street serves on the board with Philadelphia City Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, President of the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO Pat Eiding; Deborah Brady, the wife of U.S. Rep. Bob Brady; and PHA tenant representative Nellie Reynolds.
The board fired former PHA executive director Carl Greene in Sep. 2010. He had run the nation's fourth largest public housing authority since 1998.
Greene was forced out after an investigation determined he had failed to inform the board about spending $900,000 to settle a series of sexual harassment allegations.
Greene subsequently filed a lawsuit against the board, claiming he was terminated without due process.
Since Nov. 2010 PHA has been run by interim director Michael Kelly, the general manager of the New York City Housing Authority. Kelly will return to that position after a permanent PHA director has been selected.
Four high-ranking PHA executives were placed on paid leave in early February, amid allegations of uncontrolled spending, including fees to outside law firms.
