Wrenn resigns

The chairman of the Housing Authority of Travis County told the Travis County Commissioners Court on Tuesday that he would resign in the wake of a report that found he owed thousands in HATC-related travel expenses. A report from the county auditor revealed last week that Melvin Wrenn had $4,601 in unreconciled debt from trips across the country since 2011. On Tuesday, Wrenn apologized for the discrepancy but emphasized that there was nothing untoward about his behavior and that every trip he took was on behalf of HATC. He also pointed out that he had helped save the struggling authority huge amounts of money when he acted as its interim executive director for a year without pay. The commissioners were unanimous in their expressions of appreciation for Wrenn’s work but all indicated they would vote to remove his appointment to HATC’s board. Just as County Judge Sarah Eckhardt was about to call for that vote, Wrenn offered instead to resign, a gesture Eckhardt accepted. Before leaving, Wrenn said he was “at peace” with the events.