Rick Gentry is resigning as the head of the city's housing comission after 14 years of being at the helm.
The decision by Gentry was announced on Tuesday afternoon, and is expected to serve his final day as CEO of the organization on March 31.
Gentry's resignation comes one week after City Council organized a committee that analyzes reforms of the San Diego Housing Commissions, in the wake of the recent controversial topic involving the Housing Commission's transactions of extended-stay hotels for homeless people.
Staff members representing the House Commission learned that a broker linked to one of the hotel's transactions had monetary ties to the property, which would result in a conflict of interest, a criminal act in and of itself.
As for the extended-stay hotels, Gentry says that perhaps he could have handled it better, in terms of disclosing the benefits of both hotel transactions, which he says was based on a good cause to provide permanent housing for up to 400 homeless individuals.
Gentry says that he will use this time-off to clear his mind and discover what is next for the future of his career.
“I’m planning to take a little time, clear my head and figure out what the next chapter will be in my career,” Gentry said. He also went on to emphasize that he and his wife love the city of San Diego, and that they see their future still residing in the finest city of the nation.
The soon-to-be retired CEO says that he has confidence in the the organization he currently heads, stating that they have the best interest of San Diego and the well-being of the local community.
“This is a smart group of folks on the council, and they’re well intended and I know they’ve got the best interest of the city at heart,” he said. “If we remove the personalities from the equation and let the council look at the commission as an organization, they’ll find they have a gem of an organization.” Gentry added.
The SDHC created and preserved over 7,600 affordable rental units in San Diego since Gentry took leadership of the organization in the summer of 2008.
