The Housing Authority of the County of Monterey has a new executive director, Zulieka Boykin, from Alabama. The HACM Board of Commissioners voted 5-0 (with one commissioner absent) on Monday, Oct. 24, in favor of offering Boykin a four-year contract with a starting annual salary of $250,000. She is scheduled to begin Dec. 5.
Boykin was among several candidates interviewed last month by the board, during which two members of the Monterey County Board of Supervisors were present, according to a staff report from Interim Executive Director Tory Gunsolley.
The board authorized Gunsolley to make a formal job offer to Boykin and negotiate the terms of a contract. She accepted and resigned her former job as head of the Mobile County Housing Authority in Alabama.
Boykin was executive director of the Mobile County authority for eight months. Prior to that she was in charge of the Prichard Housing Authority in Prichard, Alabama. She will now oversee Monterey County’s housing authority, which provides rent vouchers through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and maintains a portfolio of over 1,000 apartments around the county, including farm worker housing.
“She is a well-respected professional with deep experience with running a housing authority,” Gunsolley said in the report.
The contract includes use of a vehicle, cell phone and laptop computer, plus a monthly $1,000 housing stipend for a period of two years. She could receive annual merit bonuses of up to $15,000 based on budget availability related to performance targets set by the board. She also is eligible for relocation expenses of up to $20,000.
HACM lost its last executive director, Jose Gomez, last fall after he passed away from complications due to Covid-19. At the time, the agency was in turmoil over issues between HACM and its nonprofit construction arm, the Housing Development Corporation.
After the Board of Supervisors threatened to step in, the HACM board voted to reorganize in December, bringing the development company under HACM.
Gunsolley stepped in as interim on Jan. 3, and has been making changes within the agency, as well as changes to housing vouchers and other services.
