Affordable housing advocates and legislators are puzzled at the Hawai'i Public Housing Authority board's decision this week to start a search for a new executive director, saying the agency's current head has made significant strides in the past two years toward turning around an agency that's been awash in problems for decades.

When Chad Taniguchi was hired in 2007, he became the HPHA's seventh executive director in nearly 10 years.

He took over a troubled agency with a staggering maintenance backlog, a high number of vacancies and lagging rent collections.

During his tenure he has been praised for balancing the agency's budget — bouncing back from a projected $4 million deficit last fiscal year — increasing rent collection to 95 percent, cutting the number of vacant units and addressing tenants' concerns.

Onlookers worry that bringing on a new director would slow that progress and trip up a planned $316 million redevelopment of Kuhio Park Terrace and Kuhio Homes.

The HPHA board voted Wednesday to start an executive director search.

It has given Taniguchi the option of reapplying for his job, and Taniguchi said yesterday that he will.

The board placed Taniguchi, who has headed up HPHA since May 2007, on probation five months ago, after raising concerns about his job performance.

Board members would not go into details on those concerns because they were discussed in executive session, but said generally that improvements were not being made as quickly as they'd liked and there were concerns about Taniguchi's ability to handle the planned redevelopment of Kuhio Park Terrace and Kuhio Homes — a decadelong project that some hope could become a model for revamping Hawai'i public housing projects that are in the worst shape.

"Chad's done a great job," said board chairman Travis Thompson. "But there were some weaknesses. We don't see that we're moving as fast as we should be.

"Our board just felt we needed to find out if there is some people with additional experience and depth of management."

Taniguchi said yesterday that he wants to stick with the job. "I love working with tenants and I love working with staff," he said. "I'd like to continue."

Thompson said he hopes to have the search for an executive director completed in three months.

The HPHA board has the authority to hire and fire the executive director of the agency. Taniguchi does not have a contract, so he can be terminated at any time.

As the head of HPHA, Taniguchi makes about $90,000 a year. Thompson could not say yesterday whether the board would offer more than that.

CONCERNS VOICED

Affordable housing advocates said the decision to start a director search came as a surprise, given Taniguchi's apparent popularity among tenants and the improvements he has made in turning around vacant units and cracking down on delinquent rents.

"We're shocked and we're really upset," said Rev. Alan Mark, president of Faith Action for Community Equity, which has been working with Kuhio Park Terrace residents.

Mark said Taniguchi has gotten support among affordable housing advocates because of his willingness to listen to concerns from tenants. Mark also said he's worried that bringing in a new director would slow improvements and potentially stall the redevelopment of Kuhio Park Terrace and Kuhio Homes.

"We're really concerned that it would jeopardize the development they have in the works there," he said.

State Sen. Norman Sakamoto, chairman of the Senate Education and House Committee, said a new director might take nine to 18 months to get acclimated to the job. "Unless there's major reasons why he's not accomplished" his job duties, Sakamoto said, he shouldn't be replaced.

"From my perspective, you keep trying to work with who you have," said Sakamoto, D-15th (Waimalu, Airport, Salt Lake).

Taniguchi's predecessor, Stephanie Aveiro, held the position for three years, retiring in December 2006. Before she stepped in, none of the executive directors of the housing authority from 1998 to 2002 held the position for more than a year.

FEWER UNITS TO FIX

Part of Taniguchi's focus has been on reducing the number of vacant units in need of repairs. In July, there were about 419 vacant public housing units statewide — about 57 of which were rent-ready. The rest needed repairs before people could move in. That's a decrease from upward of 500 vacant units in need of repairs last year, and more than 700 at any one time in previous years.

But not everyone has supported Taniguchi's leadership style. Some have criticized his push to crack down on delinquent renters, saying the program has penalized working households that have fallen on tough times.

Meanwhile, a class-action lawsuit by tenants of Kuhio Park Terrace and Kuhio Homes, filed against the state over what they say are substandard conditions at the projects, is ongoing. The suit was filed in December 2008.