D.C. Housing Authority officials faced more than three hours of questions and criticism from lawmakers on Wednesday, much of which was focused on whether, how, and how quickly the troubled agency will be able to address dozens of deficiencies identified in a scathing federal audit last month.

The audit conducted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found an agency in disarray, unable to keep many of its 8,000 housing units in livable condition, or properly account for how many vacant units it actually has available or move quickly to fill them, and failing to properly maintain or update the long list of residents waiting for housing or vouchers.

On Tuesday the Housing Authority published its 60-page response to the audit, in which it largely agreed with many of HUD’s findings and pledged to move aggressively to correct them.

Lawmakers at the hearing said the audit’s findings were “deeply disappointing” and “comprehensive and far-reaching,” and that the authority’s failure to maintain public housing units and keep them occupied were contributing to displacement and homelessness.

“The years of persistent problems… should surprise no one. But they should motivate us all to do better. This is people’s lives were talking about,” said Councilmember Janeese Lewis George (D-Ward 4). “Housing instability and poor conditions create negative ripple effects through people’s lives. The city needs to step up in a big way and not just in optics. We’re tired of plans to make plans. This is urgent.”

“We’re failing them,” said Councilmember Elissa Silverman (I-At Large), speaking of the impact on low-income residents who rely on public housing and vouchers to remain in the city. “We’ve been failing them for the eight years I’ve been here, and unless something drastically changes, we’ll be failing them for generations to come.”

Brenda Donald, who was tapped to lead the Housing Authority in August 2021 after its last director departed after a rocky four-year tenure, told councilmembers that she’s working swiftly to address the authority’s problems, many of which she said predated her and had built up over years.

“We operate with a sense of urgency. We are committed to effectuating change now. We have a lot to overcome,” she said, citing her past work reforming the D.C. Child and Family Services Agency. “I run into the burning building when others run away. I have inherited a lot, but my team and I are up to the task.”

Donald said her team was working to address low vacancy rates in public housing; the HUD audit found that roughly a quarter of units were unoccupied, even as more than 22,000 people remain on a wait list that was closed in 2013. She said the authority would launch a 16-week blitz in January to inspect and repair units, as well as hold mass events for between 3,000-3,500 people at a time to get them into public housing or connected with a voucher.

“We are turning a corner, we are making a difference. We’re talking about getting this agency to a real solid place over the next few months,” she said. “We know we can do this.”

But some lawmakers expressed skepticism with how Donald plans to effectuate those changes: the authority is working with a number of consulting groups, many of which are being paid for by the office of the D.C. Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development.

“We need wholesale reform, not an army of expensive consultants,” said Silverman. “My experience in D.C. government is we bring in consultants, we spend a lot of money, and nothing changes.”

“As a lawyer I’m concerned there’s no privity of contract with the Housing Authority,” added Councilmember Robert White (D-At Large), who lobbed multiple questions at Donald about who the consultants answered to, whether they had the expertise for the job, and why the authority didn’t contract its own consultants when Donald first took the job. “I still don’t have clarity on how these consultants are so necessary but it took a year and a half to bring them on.”

But Donald pushed back, insisting the consultants would help her address some of the shorter-term issues the HUD audit identified while continuing the longer process of building the agency’s internal capacity.

“These are industry experts who HUD has recommended. I don’t know what the concerns are. We’re very fortunate to have them, and they will help us meet our commitments,” she said. “We got the HUD report. There’s a long list of findings we have to respond to in a very short time. Could we do this ourselves? Yes, but it would take way longer.”

Donald’s push to reform the Housing Authority and respond to the HUD audit is moving on a fast track; she has until the end of March 2023 to show progress on correcting the deficiencies HUD identified. And she will continue to face pressure from the council, with the expectation that she speak to lawmakers on a monthly basis about her efforts.

Some councilmembers may not have patience to wait Donald out, as she requested. White noted that “a full overhaul” of the Housing Authority is needed, and Councilmember Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2) similarly said “structural changes” are necessary. In a statement after the hearing concluded, Silverman said she would soon introduce legislation to fully reform the agency. (Last month the council approved an emergency bill that imposed modest reforms.)

“The bill [will] refocus the housing authority on extremely low-income households and remove its ability to serve moderate-income residents, expand resident rights related to issues like unit repairs and redevelopment, and reform real property redevelopment so that all deals focus on creating extremely low income units,” said a statement from Silverman’s office.

The measure may not go far, though, as Silverman is in her last month in office and the council only has two remaining legislative sessions this year.