D.C. Housing Authority Director Says Agency’s Troubles Worse Than Imagined

Image via The Washington Post

From The Washington Post:

A year and a half after HUD issued a scathing report on the D.C. Housing Authority, 1 in 3 mandated fixes remain unresolved, and the agency’s leader says DCHA’s predicament is worse than many imagined.

“The 2022 HUD report was a wake-up call that should have ignited a comprehensive review and the start of the changes at DCHA,” Executive Director Keith Pettigrew, who began his tenure in November, told the D.C. Council’s housing committee during a recent oversight meeting.

“It is not enough to change a process here or hire additional staff there,” Pettigrew said, explaining that the agency’s organization and entire culture need to be overhauled.

Pettigrew says he will address the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s remaining concerns by its latest deadline, May 31 — a list that includes a dismally low public housing occupancy rate, now at about 76 percent, and occupied units that remain in unsafe or unsanitary conditions.