HACP ED GTFO

The Executive Director of the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh, Keith Kinard, announced his resignation today effective June 12. Mr. Kinard was a Public Servant of HACP for 11 years; this was his 5th year as executive director. The announcement comes 132 days into the O'Connor administration and will be the first powerful Authority vacancy that the new mayor will get to appoint.

If rumors are to be believed, it was expected that Mr. Kinard was to be replaced by the new administration at its earliest opportunity, as there had been some indications of conflict. The soon-to-be former Executive Director, however, beat them to the punch by leaving of his own volition.

It is unclear at this time who will succeed to top post at HACP, but whoever is appointed will give a fairly clear indication as to the direction in which the mayor's office wishes the Authority to proceed. In the early years of the Murphy administration under Stanley Lowe, the Authority pursued a strategy of devolving housing to privately run developers, with mixed success. In the later years, Mr. Kinard seemed to refocus the Authority's mission on its core competencies and enforcement of existing housing regulations.

I am not aware of any specific comments by the Mayor on the subject of public housing, so, at best, his priorities in this area remain a mystery to me.