Alexandria housing authority completes inspections of 1,100 units

Interim CEO Roy Priest told City Council that 100% of the more than 1,100 public housing properties in Alexandria have now been inspected.

The announcement marks the end of the first year since a leadership overhaul at the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority, or ARHA. During a two-hour work session, the new leadership team reported that rent ledgers are now accurate and resident maintenance issues are being addressed.

The board also confirmed that its year-over-year budget will seek approval in December. This comes after months of delays while the organization sorted out financial records and a backlog of repairs.

Mayor Alyia Gaskins attended the session with the full City Council. She requested a detailed list of every type of inspection ARHA conducts. The mayor also called for the creation of an annual residential survey and a yearly report on the status of maintenance work orders. She asked the board to take a larger look at the real estate portfolio and ARHA's holdings.

Gaskins stated that the city and the housing authority share the same goal. "At the end of the day, we all share the same goal," she said, "which is that we know how important ARHA is within our city, and we want it to be a well-functioning organization that provides the highest quality housing experience and services for all of our residents."

The current leadership structure replaced the previous board following a controversy in the fall. City Council demanded that the nine-member Board of Commissioners resign after then-CEO Erik Johnson was fired. The reason for his dismissal was that he lived in a public housing unit. Former City Manager Mark Jinks took over as board chair. The board was fully replaced, and the organization spent the following months struggling to get its budget approved while fixing inaccurate rent ledgers.

Jinks noted that the new board meets 11 times a year. He said the board has created committees that meet upward of 40 times annually. Jinks also pointed out that ARHA staff are under a hiring freeze. He noted that the organization saw five CEOs, four chief financial officers, and multiple human resources directors over the last five years. "They've been through a lot over the last few years," Jinks said. "I think we're at that point we hopefully have staff stability in the leadership of the organization."

Priest, who served as ARHA's CEO from 2006 to 2017, returned to the role after interim CEO Rickie Maddox resigned. Priest told City Council that tracking improved customer service is as simple as looking at the number of resident requests about service quality. "So, we track those kinds of things on a regular basis, and I don't know what the standard was before, what was happening," Priest said. Gaskins added, "I don't think there was a [standard]."

Earlier this year, Gaskins led a fundraising effort with Alfred Street Baptist Church. The group paid off more than $1 million in outstanding ARHA tenant back rent. Activist Loren Depina, who has led efforts to improve living conditions for residents, remains critical of the organization's transparency. She pointed to ARHA's customer satisfaction survey on its website as proof that leadership is out of touch. "I was extremely bothered that with all the ARHA staff that was in the room, none of them know that their surveys are on their website," Depina said. "Me and the tenants fill it out all the time. That was very telling."

Jinks and Priest are scheduled to present the new Capital Improvement Program budget at City Council's annual budget retreat on Saturday, Nov. 7.