Adrianne Todman Named New NAHRO CEO

The Board of Governors of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO) is pleased to announce the appointment of Ms. Adrianne Todman as the incoming Chief Executive Officer. She will assume this position on June 1.

Ms. Todman was selected after a nationwide search.

“Ms. Todman’s rich experience in crafting and executing housing and community development policy at both the federal and local levels of government, coupled with her respected leadership and organizational expertise, makes her an exceptional choice, ” stated Steve Merritt, President of NAHRO. “The Board and I are excited to usher in an era of new leadership at NAHRO.”

“I am humbled to have been selected to lead this venerable organization,” said Ms. Todman. “NAHRO represents the most diverse membership of community development, local and state housing agencies, and professionals who house America’s families. Our important work over the course of the next several years will impact the lives of millions of households who need affordable housing in vibrant, sustainable communities. I look forward to this opportunity, and am prepared to ensure that NAHRO’s mission is forward-looking and results-driven.”

Ms. Todman is currently the Executive Director of the District of Columbia Housing Authority, the region’s largest affordable housing provider, where she manages more than $400 million in affordable housing programs. During her tenure at DCHA, Ms. Todman has created a national model to house and assist homeless veterans, opened the first public affordable assisted living facility, increased the number of affordable units available for low-income families, and utilized innovation to increase the stock of affordable housing. Under her leadership, DCHA has deployed $80 million in New Market Tax Credits in emerging neighborhoods.

Prior to joining DCHA, Ms. Todman held several key positions in both the legislative and executive branches of the federal government. She served as a Legislative Director in the House of Representatives where she worked on national housing, education, and transportation legislation. She also worked at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as the first manager of the national HOPE VI competition, then as a policy assistant at both the Office of Public and Indian Housing and the Office of the Secretary.

Ms. Todman has received numerous awards and recognitions, including the D.C. Building Industry Association’s Public Official of the Year, and NAHRO’s 2016 M. Justin Herman Memorial award, the association’s highest honor, and one which acknowledges exceptional contributions to the housing and community development industry. She is frequently sought out to comment on national and local housing policies on various outlets and organizations, such as NPR, New York Times, Washington Post, Armstrong Williams Radio Show, the Urban Institute, and local city and county housing industry groups. Ms. Todman resides in the District of Columbia and is a proud alumna of Smith College.

NAHRO is a professional membership organization comprising more than 20,000 housing and community development agencies and officials who collectively administer a variety of affordable housing and community development programs at the state and local level. NAHRO members own or administer 674,000 units of public housing (a vast majority of the nation’s inventory), 1,724,000 units of tenant-based Section 8 housing, and 285,500 units of other assisted housing. In all, NAHRO’s members provide housing for more than 7.9 million low-income people and bring more than $1.5 billion Community Development Block Grant and HOME funding to their communities.  

HOTMA Implementation e-Briefing – Tomorrow

LAST CHANCE TO REGISTER!
HOTMA Implementation
A NAHRO Professional Development e-Briefing
Tomorrow, Tuesday, April 11, 2017
1:30 – 3:00 pm EDT

On July 29, 2016, President Barack Obama signed into law the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2016 (HOTMA), legislation that received unanimous, bipartisan support from Congress.

As HUD has begun the process of implementing the provisions in HOTMA, many local agencies are wondering how they will be impacted. Join National NAHRO’s in-house policy experts as they review the key provisions included in HOTMA, discuss HUD’s implementation notices and timeline, and explain what NAHRO is doing to help HUD move forward with implementation of this critically important reform legislation.

Reminder: Whether you’re watching alone or with an audience of 100, only one registration per connected device is required, making NAHRO Professional Development’s e-Briefings an outstanding value!

Online registration closes TONIGHT (Monday, April 10) at 11:59 p.m. EDT.

NAHRO Sends Letters to HUD on HOTMA and Triennial Certifications

In order to maintain the spotlight on issues important to our members, NAHRO sent two letters to HUD last week.

The first letter (member login required) was on the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2016 (HOTMA) and focused on the Project-Based Voucher (PBV) provisions that HUD is currently implementing through Federal Register notice. In addition to other provisions, this notice included two provisions very important to our members. The first allows PHAs to choose to calculate their general project-based cap based on either voucher funding or voucher allocation. The second allows PHAs to project-base up to 30 percent of their vouchers in units targeted to the homeless, veterans, elderly, people with disabilities or in areas where vouchers are difficult to use. HUD has been discussing reopening this Federal Register notice for additional public comment. NAHRO’s letter explained the importance of these provisions to PHA operational flexibility and local housing need, while noting that if the public comment period is reopened, the effective date in the original notice of April 18, 2017 should remain.

The second letter (member login required) was on the triennial recertification interim final rule required by the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act. Language permitting triennial recertifications was a hard-earned and significant win for PHAs across that country that are currently facing historically low levels of federal funding. On January 19, 2017, HUD previewed an interim final rule that would implement the triennial recertification provision of the FAST Act, but it was never actually published in the Federal Register due to the regulatory freeze on the new administration, so the FAST Act triennial recertification provisions were not implemented. NAHRO’s letter asked for the FAST Act triennial recertification interim final rule to be published, since the 60-day regulatory freeze period is now over.