Tracey Scott, embattled chief of the Chicago Housing Authority, is stepping down from her place after 4 1/2 years on the helm of the company.
Scott’s departure will probably be efficient Nov. 1, the company’s Board of Commissioners introduced Monday. Present board chairperson Angela Hurlock will function interim boss because the company conducts a search.
“Over the previous 4 years at CHA, I’ve targeted on encouraging innovation to increase and enhance housing in sturdy communities, whereas supporting households and seniors in reaching their targets,” Scott stated within the information launch. “I’m pleased with the accomplishments of an unbelievable CHA workforce, and I do know their dedication and keenness for our residents will proceed to hold the mission ahead.”
Additionally quoted within the launch was Mayor Brandon Johnson, who expressed his “gratitude” to Scott for her “steadfast management and dedication” to the company. “My administration will proceed to associate carefully with the company to understand my imaginative and prescient of a vibrant metropolis the place each resident has entry to secure, high quality reasonably priced housing,” he stated.
Scott was chosen to guide the CHA in 2020 by former Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Scott served because the interim govt director of the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority earlier than coming to Chicago.
The CHA touted Scott’s dealing with of the COVID-19 pandemic and the accelerated improvement of practically 3,000 new mixed-income models on CHA land and in privately-owned developments throughout the town as examples of her profitable stewardship.
“Beneath her tenure, and in partnership with this Board, we’ve got considerably leveraged over $1.5 billion in public-private investments to create new housing, improved our bond scores, and up to date our fully-funded pension plan,” CHA Vice Chairman Matthew Brewer stated. “CHA is well-positioned for continued progress as we enter this subsequent chapter.”
However these public-private partnerships have additionally led to controversy for Scott, notably her resolution to lease Near West Side land to the Chicago Fireplace soccer workforce. The land is on the former web site of the ABLA Houses, close to Roosevelt Highway and Ashland Avenue.
A federal lawsuit was filed in search of to cease the deal after the lease was signed in March 2023. The swimsuit alleged that land was meant for public housing and correct protocols weren’t adopted earlier than the deal was inked.
Scott heard complaints from residents and Metropolis Council members about that deal throughout a gathering of the Metropolis Council’s Housing Committee in January.
South Facet Ald. Jeanette Taylor (twentieth), who was on the CHA voucher ready checklist for 29 years, was outspoken along with her ideas on the lease.
“The thought that we’re OK with constructing a soccer subject over the place housing was once says what kind of system that is,” Taylor stated on the time. Taylor urged Johnson to fire Scott after he was elected mayor.
Taylor, CHA residents and different council members at the meeting additionally have been essential of Scott over shoddy situations and negligent property managers.
Ald. Scott Waguespack (thirty second), whose ward contains all of CHA’s Lathrop Houses, described the situations there as “simply horrible.”
Final December, public housing residents and activists demanded the ouster of CHA leaders, citing damaged guarantees to construct extra public housing.
Contributing: Fran Spielman, David Struett, Mitch Dudek
