Lakeland Commission Splits on Whether to Oust Housing Board Member Amid CareerSource Scandal

Lakeland city commissioners spent part of their Sept. 8 meeting arguing over whether a state investigation into one woman's day job gives them legal grounds to remove her from a second, unrelated public board, and in the end they took no vote at all. The debate centers on Stacy Campbell-Domineck, who sits on the Lakeland Housing Authority board and was suspended without pay a week earlier from her job running CareerSource Polk, the agency that connects Polk County residents with job training and employment. Whatever the commission eventually decides will shape who oversees an agency that manages affordable housing for thousands of local families.

Campbell-Domineck was pulled from her CareerSource Polk post on Sept. 1 after state officials accused her of poor leadership, questionable financial management and, in their words, "in some cases outright deception." Polk County commissioners voted unanimously to suspend her without pay while an outside consultant reviews the agency. She has been appointed to the Lakeland Housing Authority board separately, in December 2024, and her term there runs until December 2028.

Commissioners divided on legal standard

Most commissioners said Tuesday that the CareerSource allegations, on their own, don't clear the bar for removing someone from a different board. Commissioner Chad McLeod called removal "premature," arguing that trouble in one job shouldn't automatically bleed into an unrelated appointment. Commissioners Stephanie Madden and Terry Coney said they hadn't seen evidence that Campbell-Domineck's conduct on the Housing Authority board itself violated any standard that would justify removing her.

Commissioner Ashley Troutman went further, rejecting the idea that her dual roles even create a conflict. He said CareerSource Polk provides stipends to participants in the Housing Authority's YouthBuild job-training program, and that having board members with outside professional ties can help the agency, not hurt it. He urged colleagues to let the state's review play out before acting.

Commissioner Mike Musick said he wants more information before deciding but supports asking Campbell-Domineck directly whether she plans to stay on the board. Mayor Sara Roberts McCarley said that if she were in Campbell-Domineck's position, she would step back from any board seat while under investigation, but she was careful to separate that personal judgment from having the legal authority to force someone out. McCarley said she plans to reach out to Campbell-Domineck herself.

A lone push for an audit

Commissioner Guy LaLonde Jr. staked out the toughest position. He argued that Campbell-Domineck's continued presence on the Housing Authority board "undermines public confidence" in the agency, and said she should not have been appointed there in the first place given CareerSource Polk's financial and program relationships with the authority and its YouthBuild initiative. LaLonde called for an independent forensic audit of the money and operations flowing between CareerSource Polk, the Housing Authority and YouthBuild.

Troutman pushed back directly on that framing, telling colleagues to "tamp down the temperature" and let the state's process finish before drawing conclusions. City staff will now outline the formal steps commissioners would have to follow if they later decide to pursue removal proceedings against Campbell-Domineck.

Part of a longer fight over the Housing Authority

Tuesday's discussion didn't come out of nowhere. Community activist Harlem Turner has spent more than a year pressing the city to shake up the Housing Authority board, including an April appearance before the commission where he named Campbell-Domineck and three other board members he wants removed, citing complaints of nepotism, retaliation and discrimination tied to the agency's leadership. City officials have acknowledged the Housing Authority sits in a legal gray zone: the mayor nominates its board and commissioners confirm appointments, but the city doesn't directly run the agency, which also answers to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The CareerSource matter now carries its own deadline. State officials gave Polk County 15 business days to report corrective actions after an Aug. 25 letter accusing Campbell-Domineck of having "effectively abdicated her role," warning that failure to act could cost the local workforce board its funding and certification. The county's outside review of CareerSource Polk is expected to determine whether Campbell-Domineck is reinstated or terminated, a decision that will likely shape how Lakeland commissioners eventually decide to handle her seat on the Housing Authority board.

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Header photo: Connor J. Williams / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)