“It’s wonderful,” said embattled Hoboken Housing Authority (HHA) Executive Director E. Troy Washington Thursday night after an HHA board meeting. His relief was evident as the results of a residents’ survey were announced to a crowd of over 35 people.
“I almost feel vindicated for all of the hard work that I have put in,” said Washington. “It feels really good.”
Earlier this month, the board of the HHA, which manages the federal-subsidized low-income housing in the southwest corner of town, decided to mail out ballots to ask residents how the agency’s executive director was doing. The surveys also polled residents to see how they feel about conditions at the projects and whether security has improved.
Washington had come under fire from tenants and politicians who said he was too inaccessible, and who complained about problems with renovations of the bathrooms in the units.
Washington’s fortunes were further complicated by the fact that there’s a mayoral election coming up, and everyone wants to get the support of the HHA tenants.
But of the residents who responded to the survey and said they had an opinion on the job Washington was doing, 50 percent said the director was doing an “excellent” or “good” job. Another 27 percent said he was doing “fair.” The rest said he was doing poorly.
Out of more than 1,300 surveys sent out, 554 came back.
Poll results
Washington’s contract is up in May. The board still has to consider whether to renew it or look for a replacement. While some have complained about Washington’s relative lack of Housing Authority experience – he had served as the agency’s comptroller for less than a year before being promoted to director two years ago – others have said that at least he has no longtime political ties in town.
The results of the survey, according to the board, were as follows:
• How do you rate E. Troy Washington as the Executive Director of the HHA? 94 people said excellent, 144 good, 93 fair, 74 poor and 40 had no opinion.
• Do you feel Mr. Washington is accessible when you need him? 160 said yes, 104 said no and 154 had no opinion.
• Do you feel conditions at the HHA have gotten better or worse since Mr. Washington was appointed Executive Director? 205 said better, 64 worse, 89 about the same and 88 had no opinion
• Do you think Mr. Washington deserves to be reappointed Executive Director, or the Board of Commissioners should begin searching for a new Executive Director? 195 said to reappoint Washington, 157 said to start looking for someone new and 145 had no opinion.
• Do you feel the outside surroundings are maintained properly? 214 said yes, 126 no and 78 had no opinion.
• Do you feel your site manager is doing a good job? 363 said yes, 93 no and 88 had no opinion.
• Do you feel the current security company is doing a good job? 251 said yes, 76 no and 115 had no opinion.
• Do you feel HHA residents should have priority at HHA job opportunities? 158 said yes, 85 no and 105 had no opinion.
Reactions
“This is your Housing Authority,” said Washington to the crowd at Thursday night’s meeting. “It’s always good when you get the residents involved in the process.”
HHA board member and City Council President Nellie Moyeno was also satisfied with the results. “I believe we had a good response to the survey,” said Moyeno. “This is going to be a good tool to see what the residents want.”
After the meeting, 4th Ward Councilman and sometime-critic of Washington Ruben Ramos said that the results do have validity and will hopefully lead to a better HHA. “The people have spoken,” said Ramos after the Thursday meeting. “We want what’s best for the residents and anything that gets them involved can only benefit everyone and open up the lines of communication.”
In the public session, outspoken Washington critic and HHA resident Lynda Walker said that she believed that this survey should be taken with a grain of salt.
“A lot of people were scared to send [the survey in],” said Walker. “Because their names were on [the ballot], they fear retribution.”
After the meeting, Moyeno responded to those charges. “The residents have nothing to fear,” she said. “The ballots were opened by an attorney, and Mr. Washington will never have access to the names of the people that responded or how they responded. The names are on the ballots to add legitimacy and validity. If we sent out blank ballots, people could make photocopies and send in as many as they want.”
While Washington was elated about the result, the members of the board stressed the survey was only a tool and not the final say on Washington’s future.
HHA Board Chairman Michael Stefano said, “It’s a source we can use to find out what needs improving.”
Raia reinstated
Former Housing Authority board member Frank Raia was reappointed to the board Thursday.
Raia had been asked to step down from the board because the HHA administers Section 8 housing contracts for the 14 tenants that live on property he owns in town, and state regulators were concerned that his participation on the board could be a conflict of interest.
To get around this conflict of interest, the state will administer the commissioner’s Section 8 contracts instead. Father Michael Guglielmelli does not appear to be so lucky. Guglielmelli, who also serves as the pastor at the St. Francis Church, was asked to step down since he did not take a handful of courses that all New Jersey housing authority commissioners are required to take. Since the classes are on Saturdays when the pasture is needed at wedding and funerals, he is not able to attend.
The board made the effort to bring the instructors to Hoboken so Guglielmelli could take the classes during the week, but they could not get all the instructors to come.
So it appears, unless the situation changes, Guglielmelli will have to be replaced. Since he is sitting in a governor-appointed chair, sometime at an unspecified date a replacement will have to be named by the state’s chief executive.