Housing Board Interviews Four ED Finalists

Other Committee · Meeting of June 8, 2026

Northampton Housing Authority interviewed four finalists for executive director, including its own acting director. Chair Patty Healy led the special meeting, reminding commissioners that open meeting law barred any deliberation until a separate vote expected later in the week. Candidates included Fitchburg Housing Authority Deputy Director Andrew Skoog, Fall River Housing Authority Director of Field Operations Kathleen Povar, former Rhode Island homelessness director Mary Rose Mensah, and acting Northampton Executive Director Sharon Kimball, who has held the role nine months.

Kimball described a roughly $40,000 elevator repair, a fatal incident at the MacDonald development, and said "I'm not the prior administration. I'm my own person." Povar, who oversees 2,300 units in Fall River, said she was "tired of face planting against the glass ceiling." The only formal vote taken was a unanimous voice vote to adjourn.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 2,341 words

Source: the Other Committee meeting of June 8, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript. It was corrected where it differed.