The Carrollton Housing Authority named Carrollton Planning and Zoning Administrator Charles Griffin as its new director at a Monday night meeting.

The decision, which unanimously was approved by the Housing Authority Board of Directors, marks the end of a nine-month search for a new director, beginning with the announcement in late April 2009 that long-time director Sandra Morris was resigning from the position. The terms of Morris’ resignation were such that she would continue as executive director up until July 1, at which point she would remain in a consulting role until the end of the year. While she would retain her title through the end of June, she would no longer have binding authority over the organization nor would she act on the Housing Authority’s behalf. That power fell to interim Director Gerald Pilgrim, who stepped down from his position on the Housing Authority Board of Directors in late April of last year.

Pilgrim, the former mayor of the city of Carrollton, only held the position of interim director for a few days when he too was forced to resign due to rules set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. According to the Annual Contributions Contract under HUD, before a person can be employed by a local housing authority, they must be one year removed from service on its board.

Since Pilgrim’s resignation, the position has been held up until Monday night by Assistant Executive Director Loretta North.

The decision to hire Griffin came based largely on his qualifications, said Donna Moses, head of the Housing Authority board.

“Charles was educated in exactly what we need ... He knows this community. He’s worked in this community for many months,” Moses said. “He is an excellent grant writer, which is something we need. He knows the staff, and we think it’s a win-win because we’ll have both Charles and Loretta on board.”

Moses said she is hopeful that the Housing Authority will continue to grow in the coming months, and stability at the top will only help to facilitate this growth.

“Hopefully, we’ll see a lot of growth and stability. I want to see the staff happy and comfortable. Bringing someone in permanently will help with that,” she said. “And I want to make sure that our families are well served.”

Although the process to hire a new director was anything but expedient, there was talk in late December that the board was closing in on a decision, with Carrollton Mayor Wayne Garner publicly hinting that Griffin was the man for the job.

“I don’t think they have technically offered him the job. I think he will wind up with it,” Garner said at that time. “It’s certainly their decision but he has done such a magnificent job with the city. We would hate to lose him but he would be such a nice addition to the Housing Authority.”

Now that he has been formally offered the position, Griffin said he will tender his resignation with the city and will start with the Housing Authority before the end of February.

“I’m excited about the opportunity, and I’m fortunate to have an opportunity to stay at home and work in and around the community that I grew up in,” Griffin said. “I look forward to getting to know the commissioners of the Housing Authority, and I’m definitely excited about getting to know the employees. But most importantly, I’m excited about meeting the customers of the Housing Authority. It’s really a privilege for me.”

Griffin said in the coming months he will acquaint himself with existing authority policies and will further sit down with the board to look to the future.

“The Housing Authority has benefited from excellent management in the past. Understanding what programs are there now and making sure they continue to run smoothly will be something I need to jump on first and foremost,” Griffin said. “Hopefully, sooner than later I can engage [the board] in a conversation, and we can discuss what we want to do moving forward.”