Key figure in Tacoma’s public housing arena to retire. ‘No one can replace Michael’
.JPG "Michael Mirra, executive director of Tacoma Housing Authority, has announced his retirement.")
Michael Mirra, longtime leader of Tacoma Housing Authority (THA), announced he plans to retire July 5.
For 17 years, Mirra’s led the housing authority on its mission to provide affordable housing and supportive services to people in need in Tacoma.
Mirra, 68, said he leaves THA in more than capable hands and is eager to spend more time with his family and friends.
“THA’s Board and staff are among the nation’s finest,” Mirra said in a news release Thursday. “Working with them has been the privilege of my life.”
The THA is a public housing authority, employing about 130 people, that owns and operates affordable homes and apartments for rent and also builds affordable housing projects. The authority also helps people pay their rent for apartments or homes that they lease from private landlords through its Housing Choice Voucher Program (Section 8) and Housing Opportunity Program. THA’s residential properties include over 1,300 dwelling units.
According to THA’s 2021 annual report 10,656 people are housed through THA, with 1,284 households living at THA properties and 4,207 households getting help through rental assistance. THA’s total approved budget for 2021 was about $87 million.
April Black, THA’s deputy executive director, will serve as THA’s interim executive director until the board appoints a permanent executive director. She’s been with THA for 10 years, serving as deputy director for five of them.
“Michael has worked tirelessly for the last 20 years to make THA an asset to our community,” Black said. “He has built a nationally recognized model for how a housing authority can have a social justice mission and leaves behind a very strong Board and staff committed to THA and its mission. No one can replace Michael, but together we can work to follow the path he has set for us.”
Mirra was appointed executive director of THA in 2004 after serving two years as THA’s general counsel.
Under Mirra’s leadership, THA completed various projects, including a $250 million reconstruction of 200 urban acres of Tacoma’s Salishan neighborhood, the largest redevelopment in the city’s history; increasing THA’s number of units by 29 percent; and most recently opening Arlington Drive Campus for Homeless Youth and Young Adults.
Mirra expressed more reasons for choosing now to retire in a letter to the community. Right now at THA, other seniors directors are planning their retirement, including real estate development director Kathy McCormick, finance director Ken Shalik and human resources director Barbara Tanbara.
“These are critical positions. I should not hire their successors only to leave them in two years or so. They deserve to know who their executive director will be for the longer term,” Mirra said.
While the affordable housing crisis is worsening, Mirra said, he sees hope in the increases in funding and financing toward affordable housing and new policies brewing at the local, state and federal levels.
“So the few years ahead are likely to be a rushing river of chances and challenges. And THA will need an executive director to ride this river and its rapids from the top to the bottom,” Mirra wrote.
Mirra doesn’t consider his retirement a permanent affair.
“I spent 23 years practicing law with legal services. I spent 19 years at THA. I will be alert for my next stop where I can be of service to what matters,” Mirra said.
