The direction of the Houston Housing Authority is in question following the resignation of its president and CEO, but a leadership shakeup could be an opportunity for the agency to reconnect with the city’s lowest-income residents, advocates told the Houston Landing Tuesday. 

The authority announced David Northern’s resignation Monday. It is the latest in what has become an agency overhaul since Mayor John Whitmire appointed a new board of commissioners in February. 

The board placed Northern on paid administrative leave in October while awaiting the results of a third-party investigation into his leadership decisions. A spokesperson for the authority on Tuesday said she did not know if the investigation is ongoing or if results would be shared. 

The housing authority is separate from the city’s Department of Housing and Community Development. It is funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, manages thousands of public housing units and operates one of the country’s largest Housing Choice Voucher Programs

Northern, who assumed the leadership role in Feb. 2022, will receive six months of severance pay and health insurance. When the authority’s board of commissioners authorized the investigation of his leadership last month, Northern said it was “warrantless.”

“I am deeply concerned about the weaponization of our housing authority and the negative impact that this has had on the morale of HHA staff and our ability to serve our constituents,” he said at the time. “Nevertheless, I will keep fighting to protect both our mission and the truth. At the heart of this issue, it is Houston’s most vulnerable residents who stand to lose the most.”

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A community navigator with Texas Housers, an affordable housing advocacy nonprofit, said the authority has focused on serving residents at, or slightly below, area median income in recent years, instead of residents with the lowest incomes. Taylor Laredo said he has worked with Texas Housers for more than a year and has listened to residents become more frustrated as they question the authority’s goals. 

New leadership is a chance to rebuild trust with new and existing residents who feel ignored, he said. 

“Texas Housers thinks this is a prime opportunity to refocus, reorient and take a really good look at what has gone on the past few years and what needs to happen in the future to ensure that the current residents of HHA properties’ best interests are upheld, and that they are able to serve other residents in a region where housing costs just continue to grow,” Laredo said. 

Laredo said he did not know the motivations behind the leadership change and recognized they could be “tumultuous,” but thought it could lead to a positive change. 

Whitmire said he was “pleased” at the board’s action in a statement Tuesday, but details regarding the board’s focus moving forward remained unclear.

“I applaud the board’s commitment to transparency and holding leadership accountable,” the mayor said in a statement. “I look forward to the authority refocusing on their core mission of providing affordable housing.”

Whitmire had criticized Northern and the former HHA board over the approval of an affordable housing complex with environmental concerns at 800 Middle Street. He cited it as a primary reason for the board’s overhaul earlier this year. 

RELATED: Residents in limbo as environmental complaints stall East End affordable housing project 

Mayoral spokesperson Mary Benton did not respond to questions about Whitmire’s goals for the authority going forward, a plan to find a new president or impacts to residents. 

Interim authority president, Jennine Hovell-Cox, will remain in the position until the board chooses a new full-time leader. Hovell-Cox “is committed to a smooth transition,” an authority spokesperson said. 

City Council’s Housing and Affordability Committee did not address the leadership change at its meeting Tuesday. Willie Davis, the committee’s vice chair and at-large council member, was surprised at the resignation and said he wanted the authority to focus on bettering its facilities over the next year. 

Davis said he trusted the mayor’s appointed board to find a quality candidate and did not anticipate any negative ramifications for residents. 

“I think that it’s beneficial to all of the city that we have a clean slate of going forward,” he said. 

Laredo, with Texas Housers, pointed to several policy decisions – including the authority’s decision to turn more public housing into mixed-income housing and the types of tax breaks used for developers – as opportunities for change within a new administration. 

Laredo said he has worked with Houston residents who have lost faith in the authority. 

“They’re trying to get a property management that respects them,” he said. “They’re trying to create a community that is safe for their children at a very affordable level, and they’re trying to have their children grow up in decent conditions. And none of those things are being met.”

Neither HHA or Whitmire’s office commented on a potential timeline to replace Northern. Laredo said Texas Housers will be looking to see if new leadership is more transparent with residents and seeks their input as it takes on new projects. 

The HHA board is next scheduled to meet Dec. 17. 

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