New director: Stark Housing Authority fills vacant post

CANTON ‒ The Stark County Metropolitan Housing Authority board has found a new executive director — and he'd been hiding in plain sight all along.

Joshua Crites, most recently deputy director for the housing authority in Washington County, Oregon, had applied for the open Stark position before, but was passed over. The board had abandoned two prior efforts this year to fill the job.

Crites also was one of two finalists early this year for the top job at the Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority.

Leaving:Stark Metropolitan Housing Authority director lands Akron job

Stopped:Stark Metropolitan Housing Authority halts director search again

However, he lost out to Herman Hill in Akron. Ironically, it was Hill's departure as longtime Stark director in April, which then created the opening in Stark.

Reached for comment on Friday, Crites, 41, who was raised in the Toledo area, said he's excited to return to his home state.

"As someone who grew up in Ohio and graduated from Toledo University, it's beyond exciting for our family to return to Ohio and serve the agency and Stark County," Crites said in a prepared statement. "Creating and sustaining high quality affordable housing and services for our residents is the priority."

He's the 10th executive in the 83-year history of the agency.

Joshua Crites will begin job in February

Stark's Housing Authority has about 130 employees and an annual budget of $34 million, most of it subsidies from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The agency operates 2,435 family, high rise, and scattered site public housing units, and runs the Housing Choice Voucher program for 1,779 others, much of it through Section 8.

Nehya Ross, chair of the five-member Housing Authority board of commissioners, said Crites is expected to begin working in early February.

"The board and staff look forward to the energy, leadership and vision he'll bring to the agency," she said in a prepared statement. "Our goal is to be a high performing housing authority in the eyes of HUD and thus one of the best housing authorities in the country."

Board member Roger Mann said he didn't know Crites' exact salary, but added it will be in the same ballpark as Hill's annual wages, which were $154,295.

According to Crites' resume, he earned a bachelor's degree from Toledo in 2005, then a master's in geography and urban planning from the same school in 2009.

He's spent his entire career working in housing-related fields, much of it in the Pacific Northwest.

Career spent in housing field

Prior to his position in Washington County (part of the Portland metropolitan area), he'd served stints at a variety of jobs with housing authorities in Walla Walla, Tacoma and Seattle, as well as a year as statewide housing administrator for the Arizona Medicaid Department.

In 2014, Crites was awarded an Alexander Von Humboldt Foundation fellowship to conduct independent research on German and European social housing and homeless programs and policies. The fellowship included investigating innovative ideas for housing low-income seniors in Germany and the Netherlands.

In a letter to the Stark Housing Authority when he previously applied, Crites explained his leadership style: "Leadership for me is an ongoing journey based in humility," he wrote. "My leadership has been cultivated by staff and colleagues that I’ve served alongside. This approach to leadership is centered on seeing everyone as individuals first in order to work as a coordinated team towards our common strategic objectives."

In addition to filling the director's role, a new Housing Authority board member was added this month.

Stark County Common Pleas judges appointed Lisa Bussey to fill the unexpired term of Dan McMasters, who'd resigned in October. Her term runs until Jan. 31, 2025.

Bussey joins Ross, Mann, Jeffrey McDaniels and Tim Shetzer on the volunteer board.

Reach Tim at 330-580-8333 or tim.botos@cantonrep.com On Twitter: @tbotosREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Joshua Crites, from Oregon, hired to head local public housing agency