'System Failure': Housing Authority Board Replaced With Alexandria City Council Vote

Editor's note: There will be no public comment at the Oct. 27 ARHA meeting.

ALEXANDRIA, VA — On Wednesday, Alexandria City Council voted to replace the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority's board after scandal rocked the public and affordable housing authority.

At the meeting, Mayor Alyia Gaskins said City Council first requested resignations of the ARHA board on Oct. 6 "due to serious governance failures." Eight of the nine board members resigned by the Oct. 14 deadline, and the ninth resigned the next day.

Gaskins said City Council learned on Aug. 20 that ARHA CEO Erik Johnson was living in a public housing unit. The next day, the board demanded Johnson vacate the unit. City Council soon called for an independent investigation into how Johnson was occupying a public housing unit. Johnson was fired on Sept. 12.

"When you have a system failure, you need a system reset," said Gaskins. "Over the course of the past several months, as a council we've unanimously agreed that there have been several breakdowns in one of our most important systems, a system designed to ensure that all of our residents have access to quality, safe, decent public housing. As a result, these system breakdowns and failures have caused us to lose confidence in the board and have caused us to determine that a new path and a reset is needed to move forward."

Six of the nine new board commissioners were appointed on Wednesday with staggered terms. That includes Justin Jackson and Kristen Weber with terms expiring on Oct. 15, 2027, Nate Macek and Theresa Peterson with terms expiring on Oct. 15, 2028 and Mark Jinks and Darnella Nelson with terms expiring on Oct. 15, 2029.

Gaskins provided a statement outlining expectations for the board, including adopting a memorandum of understanding with the city, allowing city input in the executive director and other senior management hiring, responsive customer service, maintenance and inspections, regular board meetings with residents, and an annual independent audit of ARHA's finances and operations.

"This has been an emergency situation, and there's been less than 24 hours to come together and fill a board," Gaskins said. "We want to make sure the community can also be part of the process moving forwards and that folks who want to engage and apply have the opportunity to do so."

Gaskins noted that there has been one resident representative on the board. The mayor said she wanted residents to develop a process on nominating more residents to the board.

AHRA's website lists the next board meeting on Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. at ARHA's main office. There will no public comment at the organizational meeting.

SEE ALSO: Alexandria Senior Apartment Residents Raise Concerns With Health, Other Living Conditions