Since last August, the Aspen-Pitkin County Housing Authority has been without a permanent executive director.
Last Friday, the three finalists for the position were announced, and earlier this week the candidates made their respective cases to the APCHA board as to why they should be the housing authority’s next executive director.
Representatives from the city of Aspen, Pitkin County and APCHA reviewed resumes, conducted interviews and ultimately narrowed the 52-applicant field down to the final three.
Specifically, the interview panel included Pitkin Deputy County Managers Phylis Mattice and Rich Englehart, APCHA Deputy Director Cindy Christensen, APCHA Compliance, Systems and Policy Manager Bethany Spitz, city of Aspen Human Resources Director Courtney DeVito and Aspen Assistant City Manager Diane Foster, who has also served as APCHA’s interim executive director since last August.
Matthew Gillen, who has served as a foreign service officer in the U.S. Department of State since 1998, was the first of the three finalists to present to the APCHA board Wednesday evening. After serving as a diplomat in Bangladesh, the United Kingdom, Vietnam, Ireland and Chile, Gillen said he wanted to return to Colorado, where he once worked two jobs at Beaver Creek as a lift operator and a security guard at an apartment complex.
“I am looking forward to engaging with the community if I’m offered this position. That's ... a very important part of diplomacy — letting people know what you’re doing, why it’s important. It’s not just enough to do the work, you have to sell it a little bit,” Gillen said Wednesday. “With APCHA, it’s a wonderful program, but I’d like to make sure that everybody is aware of how great it is and how unique it is.”
APCHA’s former Executive Director Mike Kosdrosky resigned last August after working in the position since 2015. From Aspen City Manager Sara Ott to the APCHA board itself, Kosdrosky often voiced frustrations over the number of people he had to report to and the conflicting directions he often felt he received. It was also no secret that Kosdrosky felt he was underpaid for the work he was doing. Upon his departure, Kosdrosky made approximately $108,500 annually. According to APCHA’s job listing, the housing authority's next executive director will earn between $106,683 and $149,884 annually, based upon qualifications.
Following Gillen’s presentation, Jeffrey Arn, who has worked as Norwich Housing Authority in Connecticut’s executive director since 2018, introduced himself to the APCHA board. Prior to his current role, Arn also worked as Vernon Housing Authority’s executive director and as East Hartford Housing Authority’s facilities director.
“Once I took over the Vernon Housing Authority, I was able to put my own stamp on the organization,” Arn said of the housing authority in Connecticut. “I inherited an occupancy rate of … just over 70% and in a short time, I was able to bring in the right staff and work with them to get our rates consistently from 97% to 99% throughout my tenure there.”
Recently, the APCHA board unanimously adopted new amendments to the entity’s regulations, like requiring an APCHA-approved professional building inspector to complete a property inspection prior to a unit being listed for sale. As a result of the inspections, APCHA hopes to better understand the capital improvements that are necessary across the housing authority’s inventory.
The final candidate to introduce himself to the board Wednesday evening was Hayden Brodowsky, who has worked for the town of Little Elm in Texas as its development service manager for the last two years. In that role, Brodowsky manages building inspections, code enforcement, engineering and planning services for the town.
“I truly view government as being a public servant. Viewing the public as stakeholders and shareholders in the community and taking every request personally and making sure … their needs are met,” Brodowsky said. “I’m very innovative. I try to find any way to provide a service to the community at a lesser cost.”
Ultimately, Aspen City Manager Sara Ott and Pitkin County Manager Jon Peacock will hire APCHA’s next executive director and expect the position’s startdate to be sometime in August.
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June 25, 2021 at 04:00PM
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APCHA board meets three executive director contenders - Aspen Daily News
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