Princeton Housing Authority to Consider Full-Time Executive Director

The Princeton Housing Authority will investigate whether it should hire its own executive director or renew its contract with an outside agency.

The move comes nearly two years after the Authority came under fire by some Princeton officials who said Authority members approved back room deals and underhanded activities, allegations board members vehemently denied. 

In September, Authority members will vote whether to renew its contract with Lakewood Housing Authority to provide a minimum of 10 hours of service per week to Princeton in exchange for $65,000 a year.

The Authority owns and manages 236 affordable housing units in Princeton. 

The Lakewood services are mainly filled by Scott Parsons who was the Princeton Housing Authority’s executive director until he resigned in September, 2011 to take a job with Lakewood.

But in 2011, Princeton Borough Council members questioned the Authority about what they perceived as agency improprieties, including improperly noticing the meeting at which the Lakewood contract was approved. 

Former Borough Council Member Roger Martindell said Parsons earned $119,464 a year including benefits, when he worked in Princeton. His pay- via the Lakewood contract- of $57 per hour, more than doubled to $125 an hour for a quarter of the work he used to do, Martindell claimed.

Former Borough Council Member Barbara Trelstad, a member of the Authority, also expressed concerns about the Lakewood contract.

No one expressed concerns about Parson's job performance, merely the nature of the contract and how it was approved.

Glenn Cochran, the Authority’s attorney, acknowledged the Authority mistakenly approved the Lakewood contract at a meeting that was not properly noticed under the state’s Open Public Meetings Act. He said the issue was corrected the next month when the item was re-noticed and properly adopted. 

The contract now up for renewal includes no material changes from the current one. Even if approved, the Authority could revoke the contract with 60 days notice. 

Trelstad, Tobin Levy and Rev. Deborah Brooks will sit on the subcommittee. They will vet the Authority's options and present to the board in September. 

Cochran agreed the subcommittee is a good idea. 

"There have been some murmuring about a full-time director," he said. "If we go through procedure to vet that idea and say 'We looked and still feel that this is a good idea,' it gives all of you commissioners some insulation in saying we’ve vetted this idea."