SAUGUS — For the first time in more than a decade, the Housing Authority will have a new executive director later this year, with Laura Glynn set to step down from her post.
That leaves the authority’s board, responsible for overseeing the town’s public housing, with the task of replacing Glynn — something the chair of the authority’s board, Bill Stewart, admitted he wished it didn’t have to do. Thus far, the authority has three candidates vying for the position, all of whom were interviewed by members Wednesday. Former Middleboro and Needham Housing Authority Executive Director Maria Medeiros, former Swampscott Housing Authority Executive Director Irma Chez, and Wilmington Housing Authority Executive Director Katelynn Lemieux all appeared before the board, determined to prove themselves as the person most equipped to take over for Glynn.
While Glynn has not officially stepped down, Stewart said she intends to do so to care for her older parents. She has done a “tremendous job” in the role, he said.
Any new executive director would be responsible for overseeing and managing the five different programs of subsidized housing the authority manages: Federal Low Rent Public Housing, State Elderly Public Housing, State Family Public Housing, State Chapter 689 Housing, and Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher housing.
Medeiros was the first of the three candidates to be interviewed, telling board members she believed the world needed more housing. She said her vision of public housing was one that “doesn’t look like public housing.”
“It’s to add to what the Housing Authority already has, and find out what the residents want,” she said.
At her two previous stops, Medeiros said she had difficulties with the authority boards, which led to her contract not being renewed in Middleborough before she was bought out in Needham.
Medeiros told the board she was familiar with Section 8, state, and federal housing programs, with each of the authorities she has worked for, including those in Worcester and Fall River, offering all three.
In Saugus, Medeiros said she was hoping to find an authority she could oversee until her retirement.
Chez told board members she departed her post in Swampscott over a salary dispute, with the Department of Housing and Community Development ultimately denying a new contract she had reached with the authority in that town. While Chez intended to open a housing management company following her resignation, she ultimately decided to throw her hat in the ring for the Saugus position.
In Swampscott, Chez oversaw a relatively small authority, one that did not offer any federally subsidized housing. But, she told the board she had experience dealing with federal housing in the private sector.
There, she also oversaw a litany of capital improvements to the town’s aging properties, she said.
“I’ve worked in various properties that had a lot of maintenance problems, mold, tiles falling water leaks,” she said.
Chez also touted her work to modernize many of the systems in place in Swampscott.
“I took over a housing authority where the director was there for 30 years. She was doing everything by hand,” she said, pointing to the implementation of a system that allowed her to push messages out to each resident of the authority’s housing at once as an example. “That allowed me to keep communication open with my residents.”
The final candidate, Lemieux, said she was interested in the Saugus job in part because she wanted to take on an executive director position full-time, with the Housing Authority in Wilmington simply too small to support that. But, with the position only part-time, Lemieux also serves as a consultant for the authority in Amesbury/Merrimack.
In Wilmington, Lemieux said she was overseeing the addition of 37 units to the authority and had done nearly $3 million worth of capital improvements. And while the town does not have federal housing, Lemieux said she had experience in the category because of her work in Amesbury.
During her career in public housing, Lemieux said she has served in every seat at a Housing Authority.
“State-aid public housing is mostly my bread and butter,” she said. “I help with training, I get hands-on with my staff, I know what a reasonable workload is, I know when to pitch in when is needed.”
In Amesbury, where 15 units had turned over in the last three months, 11 had already been leased, she said.
Lemieux touted a “think outside the box” strategy for budgeting, saying she believed authorities should look beyond traditional federal and state funding sources. As an example, she pointed to a $200,000 earmark she had received from a state legislator for a paving project.
At the close of the three interviews, the board adjourned into executive session. Any candidate chosen by the board would have to be approved by DHCD before they can step in, leading members to say they did not expect a new director to take over until at least March.
