From the Asheville Citizen Times:
A new president and CEO has been announced for the Housing Authority of Asheville. Monique Pierre began in April, a planned transition to precede former CEO David Nash's retirement June 30.
Pierre officially took on the mantle in May. She is the first woman, and first African American woman, to head the authority since it was established in 1940, Nash said.
Tasked with leading the city's 10 affordable housing developments and more than 2,100 dwelling units, Pierre talked with the Citizen Times about challenges, next steps and the future of Asheville's public housing.
As part of a planned transition, Nash, 66, who has served as the CEO since July 2019, advised the Board of Commissioners last June that he would not renew his contract. Nash has worked for the authority since 2006.
He was preceded in his position by Gene Bell, who served as CEO for 14 years.
In her first address to Asheville City Council April 25, during a regular meeting that ran past 10 p.m., Pierre told council members, "I will talk about housing all day long." She checked her watch and corrected, "all night long. Which I have done today."
Pierre, 52, comes to Asheville from northwest Arkansas, where she served as CEO for Partners for Better Housing, a nonprofit housing developer. Before that position, she was chief development and modernization officer for the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh, one of the nation's largest housing authorities.
"What I really, really, really want to ... convey through any conversation I have about housing, is that we do have a vision here for excellence, and we want to achieve better quality housing," Pierre told the Citizen Times.
“We can do better, we can do more, we can aggressively pursue excellence."
Read the Asheville Citizen Times' article "Asheville housing authority announces new CEO; What are future plans for public housing?"