Asheville housing authority announces new CEO; What are future plans for public housing?

ASHEVILLE - A new president and CEO has been announced for the Housing Authority of Asheville. Monique Pierre began in April, a planned transition to precede former CEO David Nash's retirement June 30.

Pierre officially took on the mantle in May. She is the first woman, and first African American woman, to head the authority since it was established in 1940, Nash said.

Tasked with leading the city's 10 affordable housing developments and more than 2,100 dwelling units, Pierre talked with the Citizen Times about challenges, next steps and the future of Asheville's public housing.

As part of a planned transition, Nash, 66, who has served as the CEO since July 2019, advised the Board of Commissioners last June that he would not renew his contract. Nash has worked for the authority since 2006.

He was preceded in his position by Gene Bell, who served as CEO for 14 years.

More: Answer Woman: Will West Asheville Presbyterian Church on Haywood Road be torn down?

Related: Housing Authority's Gene Bell retires: 'I’ve been the luckiest guy in the world’

In her first address to Asheville City Council April 25, during a regular meeting that ran past 10 p.m., Pierre told council members, "I will talk about housing all day long." She checked her watch and corrected, "all night long. Which I have done today."

Pierre, 52, comes to Asheville from northwest Arkansas, where she served as CEO for Partners for Better Housing, a nonprofit housing developer. Before that position, she was chief development and modernization officer for the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh, one of the nation's largest housing authorities.

"What I really, really, really want to ... convey through any conversation I have about housing, is that we do have a vision here for excellence, and we want to achieve better quality housing," Pierre told the Citizen Times.

“We can do better, we can do more, we can aggressively pursue excellence."

Among other positions, she has also served as director of real estate development for the Montgomery Housing Authority in Alabama and the section chief in the program design and development division with the state of California.

Pierre has worked in housing and community development for 25 years. She was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Goal No. 1

The Housing Authority of the City of Asheville is the Public Housing Agency serving Asheville and Buncombe County. The agency administers 3,350 Federal Housing Choice Vouchers, including 1,525 project-based vouchers located in the 10 housing authority communities around the city.

The largest housing agency in Western North Carolina, it serves more than 6,500 people. Nash said the waiting list typically sits at about 1,500 to 2,000.

Of the about 2,845 people living in public housing complexes currently, Pierre said 40% are white and 53% are Black. The amount residents pay in rent is based on income.

Over the next several months, Pierre said she will focus on building relationships and exploring partnerships with the city, county and others. She anticipates strategic planning will begin in 2024, and her first goal is "to improve and stabilize the housing stock that's currently in our hands."

More: Asheville Housing Authority moved to evict 80 people in 1 day; say they're trying not to

More: Answer Man: Housing Authority salaries? Church signs legal?

This means completing a capital needs assessment, looking at the quality of housing the authority currently owns, considering the establishment of a development team and moving toward a "workforce housing model," in which the authority will work directly with residents to provide resources and services to train and support them in employment.

Pierre also said she wants to see the authority build more housing and pursue new construction, and is considering every model, whether that's multifamily apartments, duplexes, townhomes, single family houses or cottage courts.

“I want to see us really move strongly in the area of homeownership," she said. "If we want to erase the generational wealth gap, we have to promote the use of vouchers to help with homeownership, getting folks stably housed in their own home."

Currently, the authority has 75 people in Housing Choice Voucher homeownership programs, Nash told City Council in April.

What's the status of the Deaverview apartments rebuild?

While new development might be a future priority, the authority is also in the midst of a complete rebuild of West Asheville's Deaverview apartments.

Council members greenlit conditional zoning for a three-building, 82-unit project in May 2022. The project is the first phase of a total reconstruction, which is set ultimately to rebuild all 160 units, which were built in 1971.

Most recently, on April 25, council unanimously approved a $1.03 million grant for the project, which would bring the total city contribution up to $2.5 million.

More: West Asheville's Deaverview infill project just won 2 big Asheville votes. Now what?

More: Asheville council to consider Deaverview infill project ahead of demolition, rebuild

Pierre said the authority is still building the project's capital, and will be reapplying for full tax credits from the state, along with pursuing other funding partners, such as Buncombe County and Dogwood Health Trust.

Safety and crime

Pierre named safety and security of public housing residents as a "top priority."

"I always give folks the example that children have to be able to get up in the morning and go to school, they have to have a good night’s sleep, they have to have a stable, safe secure environment," she said. "Crime has no place in that scenario.”

Economic challenges are stressors enough, Pierre said, without layering on "unaddressed security issues."

More: Playground dedicated to 12-year-old homicide victim; family still waiting for answers

More: Buncombe County Sheriff has 1,800-camera network; Asheville PD now gets to use it

“I will be working and as I’m analyzing everything else, I’ll be looking at partnerships, looking at ways that we can help support our residents and create safe environments for them,” she said.

When asked about a May 13 incident in Southside, near the Livingston and Erskine-Walton public housing communities, where white Asheville police officers were videoed pinning a Black man by his neck during an arrest, Pierre reiterated that safety and security is a top concern, "that's all I'm prepared to give you at this time."

She added that she hopes the authority will be able to "strategically and thoughtfully" address concerns at their sites.

'A good foundation'

Pierre said when she sits down with the mayor and other leaders in coming months, she would be ready to answer the question: "What's your plan for housing?"

“I want to make sure that when I sit down with them, that I have not just a flippant or quick answer, but something that’s realistic, that will paint for them a plan for how I intend to take this organization forward, and how we are really vital to housing as it relates to the city of Asheville," she said.

Nash said he's proud of the work he is leaving behind, as well as having a new leader with "a lot of energy and a lot of ideas that will take the housing authority to the next level."

"I feel like we’re leaving (Pierre) a good foundation," Nash said, "and that she can take it and build strongly on it going forward."

Sarah Honosky is the city government reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. News Tips? Email shonosky@citizentimes.com or message on Twitter at @slhonosky. Please support local, daily journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville housing authority announces new CEO. Who got the job?