Jacksonville Housing Authority reports long waiting lists, introduces incoming CEO

Heather Horwitz, chair of the Jacksonville Housing Authority board, told the Neighborhoods Community Services Public Health and Safety Committee on Jan. 21 that the authority is finalizing a contract with a new chief executive officer, Sharron Corbett Waller.

Horwitz said the board expects Waller, who currently runs housing authorities in DuPage and Kendall and who previously worked in financial roles at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and the Chicago Housing Authority, to help the authority “structure development deals that will help us increase units of affordable housing.” Horwitz described the board’s top priorities under the incoming CEO as “operational efficiency” and “financial management” and said the board emphasized “community engagement and building partnerships.”

Rosalind Phillips, who identified herself as interim CEO of the Jacksonville Housing Authority, told the committee the agency is making “incremental improvement daily” after a period of leadership turnover that she said caused “loss of knowledge and continuity.” Phillips said the authority serves a large population locally but that its supply of available units is limited. “Our waiting list is extensive,” she said. Phillips gave the committee the authority’s current counts: an unduplicated waiting-list figure of about 51,000 people, of which about 26,542 are Jacksonville residents; an allocation of roughly 8,300 tenant-based vouchers (about 93% currently utilized); and long-standing public-housing tenancies that mean some applicants have been waiting since 2017.

The presentation did not include any formal proposal or vote. Committee members asked for more detail on operations, and Horwitz and Phillips said the authority will meet with council members and work to increase transparency. Horwitz said that earlier in the hiring process the authority negotiated with a candidate whose final contract draft contained unexpected terms, and that the board then continued its search and arrived at the current finalist.

Council members raised questions about how JHA tracks unit availability and how the authority plans to expand supply. Phillips said the authority has a reporting system that can show vacancies “minute by minute” and that the agency plans to pursue additional financing tools — including bond offerings and low-income housing tax credits — to bring more units online. She also said the authority is reviewing several properties it owns for future development.

Phillips and Horwitz thanked the council for its attention and said staff would schedule meetings to brief council members who want more detail.

Ending

The committee received the update as an informational briefing; no legislation or formal action affecting JHA was taken during the meeting. Members signaled interest in follow-up briefings and in more granular reporting on development plans and unit forecasts.