The Union City Housing Authority’s nationwide search for a new executive director, which has seen about 15 applicants apply, could end in the next few weeks, the agency told Hudson County View last week.
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After clarifying that agency CFO Rafael Natera is also currently serving as the acting executive director following the retirement of Vigil Cabello, effective December 31, 2015, Hudson County View inquired what the status of the executive director search is.
“I can tell you that we received about 15 different applications. We have met now two times, three times? The [search] committee has met two times. There has been once set of interviews. We are anticipating doing another set of interviews, we haven’t gotten that far yet,” explained UCHA counsel Krystle Nova.
Nova added that the search is a nationwide endeavor, with candidates as far away as Colorado, Ohio, Chicago and Florida all submitting an application for the gig.
Board Chairman Marty Martinetti chimed in by stating that the position had been advertised nationwide in both Spanish and English publications.
As for when the search will be concluded, Nova said the agency is currently working with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the state to identify the most qualified applicants for the position.
“Hopefully in the next couple weeks,” Martinetti said when asked about a timeline for when a executive director will be named.
Nova immediately echoed Martinetti’s sentiment on the matter.
“Yea, hopefully quickly. Depends how fast people get answers to us,” she said.
Strangely, “a lot of the respondents didn’t even show up for the interview,” Martinetti also said.
Although Cabello is retired as the UCHA executive director, he has been serving as a consultant for the agency at a rate of $150 per hour, according to Natera, a role he feels will not be needed for much longer.
“Probably before that,” he said when asked if Cabello would likely still be contracted on March 1. “It depends how the system, how the process goes.”
Cabello, who was appointed to the post in 1987, earned a salary of $200,108 in 2014, according to public records.
