New Housing Authority Director

The Housing Authority of Champaign County (website currently in limbo here) is the local, county level face of a federal program, as explained in this older N-G article when a director search was ongoing:

The housing authority is funded by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, which doesn't require public input for executive director searches, said Gina Rodriguez, a public affairs officer with HUD's Midwest office.

In Illinois, housing authority boards are required to select and appoint their executive directors, according to the state Housing Authorities Act. Directors report to their boards.

But due to its role in Section 8 housing it plays a key role in local politics, so it's worth highlighting. Unfortunately their main page is down, so temporarily I'm going to rely on the localwiki for a brief overview until I can update it with something more official later:

Since 1939, the Housing Authority of Champaign County (HACC) has provided affordable housing for low-income families and individuals of central Illinois.  The HACC is an important organization in Champaign County, especially in Urbana and Champaign. HACC has had a close relationship with the University of Illinois and in the 1980s HACC worked with the U of I Housing Research Center to redesign public housing communities built in the 1940s. Focus was put on reducing crimes and creating safe spaces for children. Since 2000, much attention has gone to rebuilding and re-conceptualizing existing housing projects.

What will its role be under a HUD run by Ben Carson and a Trump Administration? Will it change much? A lot? This is the man who will probably make that clear going into the future:

New housing authority director isn't one to take job sitting down
David A. Northern Sr. is of the mindset that in his field, a job well done means leaving your desk.

The newly appointed director of the Housing Authority of Champaign County said he doesn't see his work as a spectator sport.

"You have to be in the trenches working hard, and that's the type of person I am," Northern said. "You have to let individuals know and see that you care about where they work and play."

Nearly eight months after former HACC Director Ed Bland left for a job in Virginia, the agency's board of commissioners announced Northern's appointment Wednesday following a national search.

In related HACC news, Cunningham Township's (Urbana) appointment to the HACC board was recently denied by the board chairman:

Housing authority rejects township supervisor's appointment to board
The Housing Authority of Champaign County won't accept the appointment of Cunningham Township Supervisor Danielle Chynoweth to its board because of an ongoing property-tax dispute between the township and the agency, HACC board Chairman Larry Lewis said Wednesday.

Lewis announced the decision in a letter to Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin and the city council, which approved Chynoweth's appointment Dec. 18.