COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Columbia Housing Authority board of commissioners finalized the contract for interim executive director Ivory Mathews.
While her salary was not yet released, the board believes that she will be able to start within the next 30 days.
Mathews, who has served as the executive director for the Greenville Housing Authority for the past five years, will be moving to Columbia for the interim position.
On Monday, the board met for a special-called meeting to discuss her contract with CHA attorneys.
They hope that her appointment will continue the change that has been made since the tragic deaths of Calvin Witherspoon and Derrick Roper at Allen Benedict Court.
"We started to make change with respect to the structure of the Columbia Housing Authority as an organization," says Ernest Cromartie III, board chairman. "We started making change with respect to the way we evaluate our maintenance. We installed carbon monoxide detectors and so we started making change immediately. We see her as a continuation of that change, a continuation of the transparency and the continuation of the accountability that we expect of ourselves to better serve the residents of the Columbia Housing Authority."
Mathews will be taking over once Gilbert Walker retires from the executive director position, at the end of June.