Bev Fitzpatrick voluntarily stepped down as the city council's liaison to the Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority over the weekend as a federal audit of the authority continues, Mayor Nelson Harris said Monday.

Before he became a councilman, Fitzpatrick served on the authority board from May 2002 to May 2003 while he was a paid associate in a consulting firm, The Issues Management Group, that had close to $1 million in contracts with the authority at the time.

Housing Authority Director Ellis Henry is questioning IMG's contracts based on conflict of interest and preferential treatment concerns, as well as several votes Fitzpatrick took in support of a project that IMG managed.

Fitzpatrick could not be reached for comment Monday, but he has said that his relationship with IMG did not constitute a conflict of interest while he served on the housing authority board of commissioners.

Harris said Monday that he received a phone call from Fitzpatrick over the weekend expressing his desire "not to serve as liaison at this time." Harris officially informed his fellow council members of Fitzpatrick's decision Monday afternoon.

Councilman Sherman Lea began calling for Fitzpatrick to resign the liaison post earlier this month, citing the audit and the conflict of interest perceptions it is creating, whether they turn out to be real or not. It was unclear Monday if the pressure exerted by Lea had a direct impact on Fitzpatrick's decision.

"We need to be proactive in how we handle this," Lea said of council Monday afternoon. "I think this [Fitzpatrick's decision] is the right thing to do. We have to make sure integrity still reigns when it comes to the city of Roanoke."

Vice Mayor David Trinkle said, "It is a good idea to give up this post during the audit and the investigation into this issue. I think Bev did the right thing."

Harris, too, said he is concerned about the audit. On Wednesday, the Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority Board of Commissioners is due to discuss the matter with officials with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. That will be followed at 5 p.m. Thursday with a meeting between the authority board and Roanoke City Council.

Fitzpatrick has been associated with IMG for 10 years. HUD is scrutinizing 11 past and present contracts that the consulting firm held with the Roanoke housing authority.

The federal agency, which supplies the housing authority's funding, is conducting an audit partly in response to questions raised by Henry.

Fitzpatrick was once listed on IMG's Web site as a founding partner of the firm.

He was part of the IMG team hired for $760,000 by the housing authority to manage the $41 million revitalization of the Lincoln Terrace public housing complex in 1999.

Records show that Fitzpatrick voted as an authority board member on at least three matters associated with the overhaul of Lincoln Terrace, now called the Villages at Lincoln.

Fitzpatrick acknowledged he was paid by IMG on financial disclosure forms he filed as a board member and councilman between December 2002 and January 2004. In May 2003 and January 2004, Fitzpatrick said he was paid at least $10,000 annually by IMG.

Fitzpatrick was listed as a "strategic partner" on IMG's Web site until late this summer, and he continued to use an Issues Management e-mail address this month.

Fitzpatrick said in a Sept. 29 statement to The Roanoke Times that "at no time while I served on the authority's board did I perform any work with IMG that involved the authority."

He also said, "I did not knowingly violate any laws or conflict of interest rules."

The housing authority's conflict of interest policy states that no authority officer should participate in any phase of an authority contract or its administration if that officer holds a position with a bidder or a contractor.

Also, state law prohibits a member of a governing body from having a personal interest in any contract associated with that body or one under the ultimate control of that body. There are some limited exceptions.

As liaison, Fitzpatrick was asked to stay in contact with authority officials to keep the council informed on the agency's happenings. The position did not include the power to vote as a board member.

Harris said a new liaison has not been appointed, and may not be, because the council may do away with the position.

The city council dropped its other liaison posts a few years ago, but decided to keep the authority post as the one exception, said Harris, who has also served in the role.