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The Asbury Park Housing Authority [APHA] last night approved a measure employing executive officials from Long Branch to streamline the agency and help it prep for a new executive director.

Employees from the Long Branch Housing Authority [LBHA], including executive director Tyrone Garrett, will dedicate 59 hours per week to improving Asbury Park’s operations, with the eventual goal of finding a new, permanent executive director.

The LBHA is “a well-oiled machine,” APHA attorney Kevin Wigenton said. “We’re looking forward to this. It’s very promising … They’ll be assisting us, not taking over.”

LBHA will work with APHA for about six months, after which the agreement will be re-negotiated, according to APHA commissioner Tony Perillo. Perillo speculated Long Branch’s involvement with APHA will decrease after that time period.

The APHA voted unanimously to approve an agency agreement between the two authorities.

LBHA will bring in its department heads and other personnel to assist APHA in “running the organization and getting into a position where we can hire a permanent executive director,” Wigenton said.

The authority’s interim executive director, William Snyder, is finishing his time at the APHA this Friday, Wigenton said. Snyder worked 20 hours a week and was paid a consultant’s salary, according to Perillo. The 59 hours weekly for LBHA workers will come at a lower cost than Snyder’s tenure there.

The authority’s previous executive director, Mark Holmes, resigned in June 2011 amid allegations of financial mismanagement. The city council mandated an investigation on some members of the housing authority, and the commissioners were recently exonerated. For that story, click here.

APHA currently has an operational deficit of about $800,000, Snyder said recently.

The APHA consists of seven members. Five are selected by the city council. They mayor selects one member and the state selects another. The board votes on an executive director, who receives a full-time salary.

 

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