PITTSBURGH — On the fifth and final day of his Civil Service Appeal hearing, former executive director of the Butler County Housing and Redevelopment Authority Perry O’Malley took the stand and defended his record.

O’Malley, 66, of Cranberry Township was fired in March after 23 years as executive director. The authority board accused him of abusing travel and sick time, neglecting his duties and using authority resources for private business endeavors.

He was hired in July 1992. At that time, he said the authority had 800 units, 17 employees and a $4 million budget. When he was terminated, the authority had 2,500 units, 40 employees and a $15 million budget.

“We were a growing entity,” O’Malley said.

When he started, only the housing authority existed. O’Malley said he reactivated the county redevelopment authority, which went defunct in the 1980s. He said redevelopment authorities have access to certain funding and resources that housing authorities do not have access to.

O’Malley testified that the authority board approved the travel and training budget every December. He said that HUD guidelines suggest that travel should be less than 1 percent of the annual budget, and he said the authority’s budget always met that guideline.

Paul Mazeski, O’Malley’s attorney, asked about O’Malley’s work performance reviews by board Chairman Margaret Clawson.

O’Malley said she gave him positive feedback.

“She said, ‘You’re doing an excellent job,’” O’Malley said.

Before 2015, O’Malley said he never got any feedback from the board suggesting that he traveled inappropriately, abused leave time, neglected his duties or was improperly running a side business with authority resources.

When board member Jerry Andree and attorney Neva Stotler — who investigated O’Malley — arrived at the office to place him on leave, O’Malley said he and his employees were working on a “RAD” project for the Terrace Apartments.

He said RAD was a new HUD program that would remove certain HUD restrictions and borrow money against authority properties. He said this would have allowed the authority to borrow $7 million to do deferred maintenance on Terrace. O’Malley said he was working to meet milestones placed by HUD, and would have finished that day if he had not been escorted from the building. The authority board later dropped the project.

Mazeski asked O’Malley why he thinks he was fired.

O’Malley said Andree since 2009 or 2010 had tried to get the redevelopment authority to issue a contract to Dan Santoro — a former Cranberry Township assistant manager — for $7,000. O’Malley said he told Andree, who is the Cranberry Township manager, that the authority did not have those funds.

Then, in 2014, he said he attended a meeting with Andree and Jack Cohen of the Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau where they discussed a study to help development in the county. O’Malley said Andree and Cohen wanted the housing and redevelopment authority to be involved.

He said he told them he supported additional development, but said that not all of the right people were involved.

O’Malley attended a later meeting on the subject with Cohen, Santoro and Butler County Community College President Nick Neupauer. O’Malley asked if the county commissioners would be involved in the study.

He said he was told that the commissioners would not be involved, with the reasoning being that they were going to be out of office soon and that they “were part of the problem.” O’Malley then said he did not want to participate.

Mazeski also asked if O’Malley felt he was fired for his age. O’Malley said he was told that the commissioners were “old guys,” and he figured the people involved in the study felt he could be lumped in with them.

Testimony also turned to O’Malley’s rental of a cabana during a conference in Las Vegas. He said the main reason he rented it was to stay out of the sun, having been recently treated for skin cancer. He noted that there were periods of free time during conferences.

O’Malley said he used a credit card for HARIE — an insurance exchange that he served on the board of — to pay for the cabana. He also entertained HARIE clients in the cabana, which was part of his duties as a board member. He also said that HARIE work is considered official business by HUD.

Stotler’s report indicated that O’Malley abused sick time. However, O’Malley testified that he has been diagnosed with skin cancer, had a stroke about five years ago, has prostate issues and has been treated for high blood pressure and cholesterol.

He said these health issues can give him a “bad day” from time to time.

Stotler reported that O’Malley used a $1 million line of credit to give loans to other agencies that were uncollectible. But O’Malley said the debts were collectible.

One of these loans was from the housing authority to the county redevelopment authority for $350,000. O’Malley said the housing authority sponsors the redevelopment authority, which he said has four employees and is growing. He said public entities are permitted to loan funds to other public entities as long as it benefits the public.

He also detailed a $100,000 debt owed by the Butler City Redevelopment Authority related to the Center City project. As Center City properties were sold, O’Malley said that money would go to paying that debt off. He said the amount the redevelopment authority owed at one point was $800,000.

Cross examined by Andrew Menchyk, the authority’s attorney, O’Malley said that Stotler’s reports related to his travel had incorrect dates.

“They’re inaccurate,” O’Malley said.

He later said he did not dispute taking the trips Stotler listed, but disputed some of the dates she listed.

O’Malley said he very rarely used his authority computer, e-mail and phone for his private business — the Pennsylvania Affordable Housing Corporation (PAHC) — and said he never used his authority issued car for PAHC. Others earlier testified that O’Malley took calls and e-mails in the authority office related to PAHC regularly.

Asked about his typical work hours, O’Malley said they varied greatly, and could start as early as 7 a.m. and go as late as 8 p.m. More typically, he said his days usually started between 8:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. and ended between 3:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. Others earlier testified that he regularly arrived at the office at 10 a.m. and left at 2 or 3 p.m.

Although the authority’s work hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., O’Malley said as executive director he did not have to be in the office to be working.

Odelfa Smith Preston, the CSC commissioner hearing the case, said the case’s record will be closed once Menchyk and Mazeski submit their final briefs. The commissioners will then deliberate on the case once it gets the entire record.

Preston said the commission’s goal is to make a decision within 90 days of the record’s closing.