Nagle thanks board for 'their confidence in me.'
Interim Executive Director Jack Nagle was selected as the new executive director of the Arlington Housing Authority (AHA) by unanimous board vote, during a special meeting held Wednesday, Dec. 22.
The housing authority is a state agency that provides rental housing to more than a thousand low-income, elderly and disabled residents at its five developments and various smaller sites, as well as administers more than 400 state and federal housing vouchers.
Board Chairman Brian Connor praised Nagle’s leadership for the past seven months in which he successfully managed the authority’s ongoing pandemic response, as well as multiple large-scale construction projects throughout its properties.
“You are well-deserving of this position," Connor told Nagle during the Zoom meeting. "You've done a great job," and joked that Nagle could "order his new business cards."
In an email to YourArlington after the vote, Nagle wrote “I would like to thank the Arlington Housing Authority Board of Commissioners for their confidence in me. I look forward to continuing to work with the various stakeholders and building on the momentum we’ve created to best serve our residents and program participants.”
Nagle started at the housing authority in 2018 as a property manager and briefly served as its operations manager before being tapped for the interim position following longtime director John Griffin’s leave for undisclosed personal reasons in April 2021.
Following Griffin’s retirement in October, Connor formed an executive search committee composed of himself, longtime board member Nick Mitropoulos, board attorney John Greco, housing authority resident Mariann Donovan (in place of board accountant Rich Conlon) and Winslow Towers tenant President Pam Hauser.
The committee winnowed the ten-person applicant pool down to Nagle and Joseph A. Hart, the executive director of the Haverhill Housing Authority in Haverhill, Mass. A second meeting brought in local tenant presidents or their represenative to ask questions of the candidates.
Nagle takes over as the fifth director in the authority’s 73-year history. He also has the distinction of being a military veteran at an agency that was founded after World War II as housing for returning veterans and their families. Menotomy Manor, the family-housing complex in East Arlington was originally called Veterans Housing when it opened 1950.
Nagle is a graduate of Assumption College in Worcester, Mass. with a bachelor of arts in history and theology. He served as a cryptologic linguist with the U.S. Army for almost five years, before earning his master's in public administration at UMass/Boston, continuing his public-service career as a benefits case manager for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Nagle’s appointment as director is effective immediately with the board also voting to authorize Connor to enter into contract negotiations. Connor said the initial contract will be for one year, followed by a three-year extension based on performance and board approval.
Donovan called Nagle "a superstar" and a problem solver. "It's tremendously exciting to have Jack as the executive director," she wrote by text. "I know he'll lead the orgainization in new and exciting directions."
A profile of the new director and the sprawling portfolio he now oversees will be covered in upcoming reporting.
Nov. 22, 2021: Housing authority restructures staff as key personnel retire
This news summary, by YourArlington freelance writer Melanie Gilbert, was published Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2021
