New NWGA Housing Authority Director Gets Down To Business

Intent on restructuring what has been an organically grown operation toward efficiency, new Northwest Georgia Housing Authority Executive Director Justin Jones said he’s beginning a strategic plan for the organization’s future.

“From what I’ve seen coming in, we’re a great organization, but with anything there’s (room for) improvements,” Jones said during an interview with the Rome News-Tribune this week.

The mission overall for any housing authority is to get residents to a place of self-sufficiency and the big picture goal is to help people in public housing better themselves and find financial stability.

It’s an odd premise, working to put yourself out of business, Jones said, but when it comes down to it, that is the goal of public housing agencies: to eventually not be needed.

As it is, there are plenty of folks who need help and there are currently over 2,000 people on a waiting list to get into public housing in Northwest Georgia.

“Where do we want to be three years, five years, 10 years down the road?” Jones asked rhetorically. “For some of the things we do in (the planning phase) of a strategic plan, I want to get buy-in from the city and the citizens, so I think it’s important we have those relationships.”

Looking for a chief financial officer, alongside other factors, has caused difficulties.

“We’ve not had a CFO in place for over a year and, being an accountant myself, the foundation for any business is your financial department,” Jones said. Filling that position, even prior to Jones’ arrival, has proved difficult.

The housing authority has accounts from several funding streams, including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, that cannot be commingled or even temporarily appropriated for other uses.

The authority is currently working to ensure each of its accounts is being used correctly and appropriately by identifying each account and instituting internal controls.

“One thing you’ll learn about me, there are HUD standards and then there are my standards,” Jones said, indicating that his standards are more stringent than the baseline federal standards.

He’s got a three-pronged approach to achieve that Jones-level standard.

“The three areas where I would like to see Northwest Georgia (Housing Authority) go to are: we’re going to restructure the organization, develop a strategic plan and, the third big one is, we want to regain the trust of the public,” Jones said. “We will be aboveboard. We have to consider ourselves partners for with the public.”

On a personal level, Jones described himself as a history buff and family man. The self-proclaimed Tennessee fan comes by it honestly. His family lives in or near Ripley, Tennessee, but he’s quick to say that he’s primarily an SEC fan and will switch to Georgia if the Vols aren’t in play.

At this point, he’s still working on finding a home in Rome but he said once he puts down roots he’s here to stay.

“I want everybody to know that I’m invested in this community. I made the move here to be a part of the community,” Jones said.