A bizarre series of events bodes well for residents of Seaside housing project.

Just before 2pm on Aug. 14, Dorene Matthews, property manager of Seaside housing complex Del Monte Manor, reached toward Seaside Deputy Police Chief Louis Lumpkin’s gun, Lumpkin says.

The exchange occurred while Richard Glenn, Del Monte Manor’s new interim executive director, and Jim Vossen, a new board member, tried to enter the complex’s offices. With them was a locksmith hired to change the office locks.

The standoff was the climax of a dire situation two years in the making. The property, which has 98 units receiving subsidized rent paid for by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, is bleeding over $20,000 per month because management has failed to properly fill out government paperwork and get those subsidies paid.

At that rate, the reserve could run dry by this fall, and the 192-unit complex might not be able to keep the lights on. Glenn, a member of the Seaside Chamber of Commerce empowered by a newly elected board of directors, came in hopes of saving the place.

The police officers came along to keep the peace.

“We were told a confrontation was expected,” Lumpkin says.

Matthews hadn’t responded to board demands for a copy of her contract, and citing her lack of cooperation, Glenn decided it was necessary to “secure the premises,” he says.

Glenn and Vossen were accompanied by Lumpkin and patrol Cmdr. Chris Veloz. When they faced Matthews, she became agitated. Glenn asked those working in the office – Matthews, office manager Alicia Rowsey (Matthews’ granddaughter) and receptionist Latasha Neal – to go home until 8am Monday so Glenn could sort through the office files.

The request didn’t go over well with Matthews.

“She was very upset… she said she’d be arrested before she left the property,” Lumpkin says. He adds that Matthews’ husband, retired Monterey County Sheriff’s Deputy Richard Matthews, was present and advised her otherwise: “[He] said it wasn’t worth going to jail.”

Then something unexpected happened as Matthews walked by Lumpkin to exit her upstairs office.

“While I was standing up against the door, she grabbed my gun-side at my hip,” he says. “It was clear she was reaching for my waist, [so] I grabbed her wrist. We had to escort them out of the office after that.”

The confrontation could have serious consequences.

“A police report is going to be filed with the D.A.’s office for resisting and delaying a peace officer,” Lumpkin says. “We were just there to keep the peace, and she wasn’t having it.”

Matthews was hired as Del Monte Manor’s manager in January 2013. Records show that for the entire length of her employment, she failed to obtain any of the subsidy funds for the 98 DMM units under HUD contract. The payment requests she submitted, HUD officials say, were not filed correctly.

The last month the property received HUD funds was for August 2012, when former property manager The John Stewart Company was still in place. Since November 2013, Matthews has threatened to raise rents of subsidized residents to make up for the loss, a move illegal under HUD rules.

The recent upheaval at Del Monte Manor started in a flurry on Aug. 11, when a special board meeting of the Seaside Civic League was called for elections. (SCL is the nonprofit overseer of Del Monte Manor Inc., which owns the property.)

Rick Medina from the Lion’s Club was elected president, Cyndi Dorsey from Kiwanis Club was elected vice president and Vossen was elected secretary treasurer in 5-0 votes. All three are new board members; also present was Wayne Dalton of the Rotary Club and a new board member from Oceanview Baptist Church, Willie Pearson. The only board member not in attendance was former president Norah (pronounced Noah) Saffold of Greater Victory Temple, who was invited.

The next day, Aug. 12, Medina sent a letter and email to both Dorene Matthews and Kathleen Clack, the attorney representing Del Monte Manor in a federal case against HUD to recoup unpaid vouchers. The letter asked for their employment contracts, and advised “no communication… with anyone other than me” with regards to the HUD litigation.

After receiving the email that morning, Clack advised Dalton, via voicemail, she would seek a temporary restraining order to prevent the board’s actions.

That night, Glenn, a retired attorney, was appointed interim executive director of Del Monte Manor by the new DMM board. He is also acting as their legal counsel. He is performing both sets of duties for minimum wage.

On Aug. 13, Monterey County Superior Court Judge Thomas Wills heard Clack’s application for the restraining order. He seemed baffled when Glenn stood as counsel for the defense, representing Del Monte Manor, Inc., just after Clack said she was there also representing DMM.

“You’re both on the same side, are you not?” Wills asked.

“No, here’s the moving party,” Glenn said, motioning to Clack. “I’m the in-house counsel to Del Monte Manor, Inc., hired to clean house.”

Wills dismissed Clack’s motion, telling her it didn’t meet the standard for an emergency order. After that hearing, Clack filed suit against Dalton and other board members in Monterey County Superior Court. A hearing is scheduled for next February.

The pending federal suit against HUD was first filed by Clack in May, and federal Judge Ronald Whyte ordered both sides to meet and try to reach a settlement.

No settlement was reached, and on Aug. 5, HUD attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the suit. In it, HUD attorneys write that “disputes are not resolvable as long as DMM’s current management remains in place.”

Glenn is now trying to settle that suit out of court, and is hopeful Del Monte Manor can be saved.

“The crisis has come, the fever has broken and the patient may survive,” he says. “It’s going to take the commitment of all the member organizations.”

Tenants are likewise optimistic. “Obviously, it was a relief for all the residents here,” says DMM Tenants Association Vice President Warren Pitts. “Everybody’s glad that it’s actually happening.”

Neither Clack, Saffold nor Matthews responded to repeated requests for comment.