Howard County?s newly appointed housing leaders plan to take a closer look at the county?s affordable housing projects.
“I think there is a need to really take a step back and make sure the policies we have in place are meeting [the county?s] goals,” County Executive Ken Ulman said Tuesday.
Ulman appointed Stacy Spann as director of the Department of Housing and Community Development and Thomas Carbo as deputy director.
The two are replacing Leonard Vaughan and Neil Gaffney, respectively.
Ulman asked the new team to review current projects, including the controversial Centennial Gardens in Ellicott City.
Ulman said the move wasn?t a criticism of the former leaders, and the outcry over Centennial Gardens did not affect his decision directly, “although broadly I wanted a team I felt comfortable with.”
“I think you will see these two folks really engage the community in a way you may not have seen,” Ulman said.
While in high school, Spann lived in Guilford Gardens, a low-income community in Columbia, an experience Ulman said will help him understand the challenges of affordable housing.
Spann, of Fulton, most recently served as an assistant commissioner in Baltimore City?s Department of Housing and Community Development. His new role, which he assumes Jan. 15, pays $124,134 a year.
Spann said an educational component is crucial in the push for more affordable housing.
“It affects everyone ? those at the highest level of income to the lowest,” he said.
Carbo, of Westminster, is the former hearing examiner for the county?s Board of Appeals and also served in the county?s Office of Law. Carbo?s salary is $110,573.
“This is going to be a daunting task,” Carbo said, adding the recent report from the county?s Task Force on Affordable Housing shows “how far we have fallen behind in providing affordable housing.”
Vaughan also resigned as the executive director of the Housing Commission, a role Spann might also assume, Ulman said.
