March 14, 2008
Mayor John Cook said Friday that he named three new members to the Housing Authority board. The three members will meet with the board for the first time in April, leaving one meeting for the current board in March, Cook said.
The new board members are lawyer Lynn Coyle, United Bank of El Paso Senior Vice President Joe Fernandez, and businesswoman Sue Pratt. They replace Kenna Ramirez, who resigned in December, and current board members Jaime Rubenstein and Larry Medina, who were on opposite sides of contentious issues such as hiring Executive Director Gerald Cichon.
Cook said that he was guided in the appointments by the committee he appointed to make recommendations. The committee was modeled after a similar committee that made recommendations on Thomason board appointments.
Cook said the committee recommended specific backgrounds, such as business, legal and financial.
Coyle, a lawyer, said that she was "very, very excited to be able to serve on the housing board. It's an important institution and I think it can do great things with good leadership, so I'm ready to dig in."
Said Pratt: "I'm aware of some of the challenges faced by the organization and I'm looking forward to fulfilling my duties in an ethical and honorable way."
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Background
-- Dec. 12, 2008: HACEP Board Hammers Out, But Delays, ED Contract; Terms of the contract for Gerald Cichon were reached, but the vote to ratify and execute the contract was delayed until next week. The meeting started with statements against any action by Chairwoman Ramirez; for more than an hour, Cichon, his lawyer and the HACEP attorney negotiated terms (pictured), and the meeting ended with HACEP one step closer to having a new executive director.
-- Dec. 5, 2008: HACEP Under HUD Review; Cichon Contract Meeting Scheduled for Dec. 12; HUD is in El Paso reviewing HACEP "operations, procurement, governance and other issues." Meanwhile, the meeting to ratify a contract offered to Gerry Cichon has been scheduled for Dec. 12.
-- Nov. 29, 2008: Kenna Ramirez Responds, Angrily, to Vote for HACEP ED; A reaction by HACEP board Chairwoman Ramirez to Thursday night's vote to hire Gerry Cichon as executive director, and HUD comments on the Aliviane contract.
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In November, HACEP considered a new technology manager and CEO. [Nov. 28, 2007 HACEP agenda] One of the finalists for technology manager was Fernando Parra. [nov. 16, 2007 npt background] [nov. 28, 2007 el paso times background] Parra was arrested by the FBI in February. [feb. 6, 2008 npt coverage of parra hearing]
-- In 2003, the Suncrest tax-credit housing controversy was all the rage. Read one side of the story in this Aug. 30, 2003 interview with Al Velarde.
-- In 2005, the board duked it out over whether to hire Pablo Salcido as CEO. They did, but barely. This is the Dec. 26, 2005 wrapup story.
-- Pablo Salcido didn't stay long. The board fired him in November, 2006. In July, 2007, the board still didn't have a CEO, Salcido filed a lawsuit, and the board responded. Then the board hired Arturo Huerta as interim executive director.