Saturday, September 18, 2021

Challenges for the HHA

The Hudson Housing Authority (HHA) Board of Commissioners has ambitious plans for redevelopment, plans that include demolishing the nine-story Bliss Towers and Columbia Apartments, the cluster of buildings known as "the low-rise," all built in the early 1970s during Urban Renewal, and replacing them with new buildings on that site and on HHA-owned land across State Street from Bliss Towers. They also have aspirations to build on four parcels currently owned by Hudson Community Development and Planning Agency (HCDPA).

A draft RFQ (request for qualifications) for the project was prepared in June with the expectation that it would be issued in July and proposals would be received in August, but instead, in July, HHA executive director Tim Mattice resigned, and so did Michael Bruno, the board's legal counsel. As a consequence, the board's attention has been directed to other things.

On Friday, the HHA Board of Commissioners held a special meeting to, in the words of Revonda Smith, who chairs the board, "update everyone on where we are." Smith told her colleagues what Gossips had already reported: that the Board of Commissioners of the Troy Housing Authority had voted against allowing its executive director to serve as interim director for the Hudson Housing Authority. Smith mentioned four names as candidates for interim director, only one of which was familiar: Nick Zachos, former director of the Hudson Youth Department. The board's priority now is to draft an interim agreement (IA) before they can appoint someone to that position.

Regarding legal counsel, Smith reported that they had contacted three law firms: one declined; one did not respond; one said they would get back to them but has not yet done so.
COPYRIGHT 2021 CAROLE OSTERINK

5 comments:

  1. No kidding, "ambitious plans." And finding someone to oversee such plans will be challenging. Carole, do you know who the other names in the running are? Or what kind of search, if any, for interim director is being conducted? Thanks, peter meyer

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    1. All I know is that they are working with HUD to find a new executive director. If I knew the names of the other candidates being considered for interim director, I would have reported it.

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  2. p.s. Do we know why Mattice and his counsel left? --peter meyer

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  3. Give Nick that Job. Better to have someone we know, than another blow in, know it all ,with a mouthful of "DODGY LATIN" & "ECONOMICAL with the TRUTH"

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  4. Keep the tower and fix it. It can be done. Maintenance is the key.
    No one maintained the building. The same thing is happening in New York City. These projects are too big and hard to handle. Hudson does not even have 6000 people.

    Simplify your view of life. It will serve you better. Stalin Towers and housing projects do not work out well

    Evergrande in China I’d about to go under - if you read the news.

    These schemes are deadly.

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