Ear to the Ground

In August, Gossips reported the rumor that Anthony Laulette, executive director of the Hudson Housing Authority, had resigned after only five months in the job. Gossips was able to confirm this was true but could not discover the reason for his abrupt departure. According to an HHA board member, Laulette cited only "personal reasons" when he presented his resignation to the board. Laulette did not respond to Gossips' query. 

Today, at the monthly meeting of the Hudson Development Corporation, executive director Sheena Salvino mentioned she had met the new executive director of HHA: Timothy M. Mattice, who most recently worked as executive director of the Gloversville Housing Authority. A little online research revealed that Mattice took the job in Gloversville in June 2015, succeeding someone who had held the position for more than thirty years. At the time, Mattice, who is in his 50s, was quoted in the local newspaper as saying, "I'm looking to end my career here. My passion has always been housing and I'm looking forward to putting my experience and expertise to use in the city that I've lived my entire life. I have a big commitment and passion for this city."

Newspaper accounts, readily found on the internet, suggest that things didn't go exactly as anticipated. On January 12, 2017, the Fulton County Express reported: "The executive director of the Gloversville Housing Authority recently came under fire after nine employees filed a letter stating Tim Mattice has created a hostile work environment and has been using the authorities [sic] services improperly." The article doesn't specify exactly what Mattice had done to create a hostile work environment, but it does include the following quote from the letter of complaint: "He has created a severely hostile environment within the work place that has made each and every one of us anxious about our jobs and dread coming into work every day. In fact, some of us have even cried coming into work because of how hostile of an environment he has created." The article does explain the alleged misuse of the authority's services. According to the article, Mattice was accused of using housing authority personnel to do work for Gloversville Housing and Neighborhood Improvement Corporation, a not-for-profit for which Mattice was the executive director up until January 4, 2017, when he resigned from that position.

On July 21, 2017, the Leader-Herald reported: "The Gloversville Housing Authority Board of Commissioners put its executive director and one employee on paid administrative leave and two commissioners resigned during a tense, five minute exchange on Thursday." According to the article, the resolution that put Mattice on paid administrative leave "for an unspecified amount of time" met with applause from the thirty people in the audience, who had waited through an executive session that lasted for three hours. One of the board members who resigned during the shakeup said he didn't think Mattice had done anything wrong, indeed he said Mattice had "only done good for this entire organization." He went on to say he thought "the residents wanted Mattice gone because he was trying to get rid of bedbugs."

No articles could be found reporting what Mattice has been doing in the two months since July 21, but clearly he's been looking for a new job, and he's been successful. He is now the executive director of the Hudson Housing Authority, a job that entails the care and keeping and management of Bliss Towers.
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