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Edmund Carrera, the new executive director of the Mexico Housing Authority, brings with him a wealth of experience.
Carrera has been in the business of managing and developing affordable housing 33 years. By some he’s referred to as a troubleshooter or problem solver.
Carrera began his career in housing in 1978, starting in Denver, moving on to San Francisco, then to Virginia and eventually to Florida – serving as branch chief, program operations director, field support and evaluation officer, and executive director.
The past 15 years he worked for the housing authority of Homestead, Fla. As executive director, Carrera was hired to rebuild after Hurricane Andrew damages, solve financial problems and implement the USDA housing program transition from migrant worker labor camps to domestic farm-worker family housing centers. He also addressed issues with the HUD Section 8 voucher program. Upon his departure, Carrera said that Homestead’s HUD program had a High Performance rating of 100 percent and the housing authority is financially sound.
Before that, Carrera was executive director of the Chesapeake Redevelopment and Housing Authority in Virginia, where he was hired to bring the housing authority out of the HUD Troubled Performance rating category and develop a program to demolish and develop a 100-acre, 700-unit WWII shipyard worker project. Within three years, the housing authority had a strong standard HUD rating and demolition and rebuilding programs for the WWII housing project were in place and construction under way. Displaced families were given priority to housing.
He said Mexico Housing Authority is structured very well for the size of the community and that he’s “very fortunate” that the housing authority is not in a troubled state. “But there’s always room for improvement,” he noted.
He intends to create a more positive environment of public housing, by weeding out bad tenants and troublesome influences. “My personal goal is to make sure the people who live here are living in a community where they can walk out of their house at night and feel safe,” Carrera said.
Carrera is impressed with the relationship the housing authority has with the Mexico Public Safety Department. “I would say that this city has the best relationship with housing and the police department; they do it right,” he said. “To improve housing you have to have police support. That is very, very important.”
The board of directors hired Carrera from a pool of six applicants. He started his job in late May and has spent the past month and a half familiarizing himself with the board members, staff and daily functions. The southwestern El Paso native is a U.S. Navy veteran, father of two adult daughters and he has three grandchildren. Relocating to Mexico, Carrera said, put him closer to his family.
A reception to welcome Carrera will be announced when plans are finalized.
Edmund Carrera, the new executive director of the Mexico Housing Authority, brings with him a wealth of experience.
Carrera has been in the business of managing and developing affordable housing 33 years. By some he’s referred to as a troubleshooter or problem solver.
Carrera began his career in housing in 1978, starting in Denver, moving on to San Francisco, then to Virginia and eventually to Florida – serving as branch chief, program operations director, field support and evaluation officer, and executive director.
The past 15 years he worked for the housing authority of Homestead, Fla. As executive director, Carrera was hired to rebuild after Hurricane Andrew damages, solve financial problems and implement the USDA housing program transition from migrant worker labor camps to domestic farm-worker family housing centers. He also addressed issues with the HUD Section 8 voucher program. Upon his departure, Carrera said that Homestead’s HUD program had a High Performance rating of 100 percent and the housing authority is financially sound.
Before that, Carrera was executive director of the Chesapeake Redevelopment and Housing Authority in Virginia, where he was hired to bring the housing authority out of the HUD Troubled Performance rating category and develop a program to demolish and develop a 100-acre, 700-unit WWII shipyard worker project. Within three years, the housing authority had a strong standard HUD rating and demolition and rebuilding programs for the WWII housing project were in place and construction under way. Displaced families were given priority to housing.
He said Mexico Housing Authority is structured very well for the size of the community and that he’s “very fortunate” that the housing authority is not in a troubled state. “But there’s always room for improvement,” he noted.
He intends to create a more positive environment of public housing, by weeding out bad tenants and troublesome influences. “My personal goal is to make sure the people who live here are living in a community where they can walk out of their house at night and feel safe,” Carrera said.
Carrera is impressed with the relationship the housing authority has with the Mexico Public Safety Department. “I would say that this city has the best relationship with housing and the police department; they do it right,” he said. “To improve housing you have to have police support. That is very, very important.”
The board of directors hired Carrera from a pool of six applicants. He started his job in late May and has spent the past month and a half familiarizing himself with the board members, staff and daily functions. The southwestern El Paso native is a U.S. Navy veteran, father of two adult daughters and he has three grandchildren. Relocating to Mexico, Carrera said, put him closer to his family.
A reception to welcome Carrera will be announced when plans are finalized.
