THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, January 30, 1996 TAG: 9601300286
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KATRICE FRANKLIN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 42 lines
After a three-month search, the Suffolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority selected an executive director Monday.
The board voted 4-3 to hire Earl B. Pullen, executive director of the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority.
Pullen, 50, a Roanoke native, has more than 20 years of experience in housing management. He was among 50 applicants for the Suffolk job.
If Pullen accepts, he will be the first African American to be executive director in Suffolk.
The search began in October, when James P. Armstrong announced that he was leaving the post he had held for nearly two years. The authority has been without a director since Armstrong left in December to pursue his doctoral degree.
Pullen could not be reached when the Suffolk board tried to offer him the job Monday, but board members said they are confident he will accept.
``He has the interest at heart of the people,'' said John H. Kindred, a commissioner for the housing authority. ``We saw his concern when he visited some of our housing developments and saw some of the conditions there.''
Leroy Bennett, chairman of the authority, said Pullen ``has housing experience and has a lot of knowledge in public housing and some in accounting.''
The authority is offering Pullen $57,500 a year - the same salary at which Armstrong was hired - as well as $2,920 for moving expenses and $2,400 for automobile expenses.
Armstrong replaced V. Janette Rountree, who resigned after state and federal investigators found that the agency had mismanaged a rental rehabilitation grant program. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has demanded that Suffolk repay $157,000 in misused federal money.
KEYWORDS: SUFFOLK REDEVELOPMENT AND HOUSING AUTHORITY DIRECTOR by CNB