{"id":4093,"date":"2015-03-27T05:29:13","date_gmt":"2015-03-27T09:29:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shorebeat.com\/brick\/?p=4093"},"modified":"2015-03-27T09:19:29","modified_gmt":"2015-03-27T13:19:29","slug":"new-brick-housing-authority-boss-draws-praise-despite-past-controversy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/2015\/03\/new-brick-housing-authority-boss-draws-praise-despite-past-controversy\/","title":{"rendered":"New Brick Housing Authority Boss Draws Praise, Despite Past Controversy"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Alesia<\/a>

Alesia R. Watson (right), executive director of the Housing Authority of the Township of Brick.<\/p><\/div>\n

The new executive director of the Brick Township Housing Authority is heralded by officials as a caring advocate for residents who goes above and beyond the call of duty, though nine years ago she had to step down from a similar position in Atlantic City after a newspaper revealed criminal convictions in her past.<\/p>\n

Nearly a decade after the Atlantic City position fell through, Alesia R. Watson, who was appointed in November by the seven-member Board of Commissioners for the housing authority, admits she made mistakes in her younger years and is committed to the authority\u2019s residents.<\/p>\n

The authority\u2019s board, which operates apartment buildings for low-income and disabled residents in a complex off Chambers Bridge Road, appointed Watson as its executive director in November through a shared services agreement with the Ocean City Housing Authority, for which Watson also serves as executive director.<\/p>\n

Under the contract with the Ocean City authority, a copy of which was obtained by Shorebeat through an Open Public Records Act request, Brick Township\u2019s authority pays a flat fee of $50,000 per year for the services of an executive director to work alternating three and two day weeks. An hourly rate of $76.10 is paid by Brick for hours exceeding those in the agreement when they are required.<\/p>\n

The contract was approved by the state Department of Community Affairs on Oct. 30, 2014, according to additional documentation obtained by Shorebeat. Watson is not considered a direct employee of the Brick authority even though she serves as its executive director, the contract states.<\/p>\n

Since starting in Brick, Watson has drawn praise from residents and has gone \u201cabove and beyond,\u201d said Kim V. Terebush, chairwoman of the Board of Commissioners.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were times when she was there many more hours and days than even requested because there were situations that needed to be addressed,\u201d Terebush said.<\/p>\n

Likewise, Ed Kiesche, the board\u2019s vice chairman, praised Watson\u2019s work ethic.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom what I\u2019ve seen, being with her at the meetings, she\u2019s doing a great job and the tenants love her,\u201d Kiesche said. \u201cShe\u2019s very personable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watson, however, was the subject of a front-page story in the Press of Atlantic City in 2006 that ultimately led to her resignation as executive director of the Atlantic City Housing Authority. Then known as Alesia Humphrey, the article referenced criminal convictions dating back to 1992 for theft and credit card fraud. The criminal convictions have been re-verified by Shorebeat.<\/p>\n

Her legal troubles date back to an arrest in 1992, when she was charged with two counts of credit card theft, three counts of unlawful use, and theft by deception, according to the original Press of Atlantic City report. She was indicted by a Somerset County grand jury on two counts of credit card theft and theft by deception and ultimately pleaded guilty to a single count of theft by deception for which she received a sentence of probation. She was charged again with forgery, theft by deception and credit card theft in 1994, then again in 2000 with credit card theft, fraudulent use of credit cards and forgery.<\/p>\n

All of the charges culminated in plea deals; Watson served a total of 31 days in jail and served probation. Her legal troubles ended in 2003, with a probation violation, for which she was sentenced to 131 days in jail, but given credit for time served, according to The Press\u2019s report at the time.<\/p>\n

Watson does not shy away or deny her past. Instead, she told Shorebeat this week that she\u2019s committed to having positively changed her ways in order to help those less fortunate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI made some mistakes in my life, and I\u2019ve cleaned myself up and turned myself around,\u201d Watson said. \u201cI went back to college and turned everything around. You learn from your mistakes, and you change and move on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Terebush said there were \u201cample background questions\u201d asked before Watson was appointed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was nothing that was brought to our attention as an authority,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Indeed, none of the offenses for which Watson was convicted preclude her from serving as executive director of a housing authority.<\/p>\n

That was confirmed by Terry Brady, the housing authority\u2019s attorney, according to Terebush, who said she consulted with the board attorney after rumors of the criminal convictions began to make their way around town.<\/p>\n

Watson hails from an Atlantic County family known for holding considerable political clout in New Jersey. She is the daughter of Lena and Bernard Fulton; Lena Fulton\u2019s company, Atlantic Associates Insurance, has covered numerous governmental entities, and Bernard Fulton was a political luminary in Atlantic City, helping to elect the city\u2019s first black mayor after moving there in 1969.<\/p>\n

Watson holds an undergraduate degree from Sojourner-Douglass College and an MBA from American Intercontinental University<\/span><\/span>. She was appointed executive director of the Ocean City Housing Authority in August 2013.<\/p>\n

Financial Realities<\/strong><\/p>\n

Brick\u2019s housing authority has long had a full-time executive director in charge, and the idea of the authority sharing an executive director with another agency has raised some concerns in the community. For many years, Dennis Salerno, a Republican appointee, served in the role, until stepping down in 2012. Former Brick councilman Anthony Matthews, also a Republican, was in a leadership position in the authority, apparently until recently, when he was let go.<\/p>\n

Matthews has not filed any litigation against the authority over his departure, but said he had the necessary certifications to step into the executive director role on a permanent basis. That was disputed by Kiesche, who said Matthews lacked the certifications required under the law.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe just didn\u2019t have those certificates,\u201d Kiesche said, otherwise complimenting the job Matthews did at the authority.<\/p>\n

Since Salerno\u2019s departure, the leadership of the authority as a whole has been in flux.<\/p>\n

The board received \u201cquite a number of resumes\u201d when they posted advertisements for the position earlier this year, Terebush said. A personnel committee then poured over resumes before a few final applicants were interviewed by the board as a whole, she said.<\/p>\n

Before hiring Watson, the board attempted to hire Victor Cirilo, a Democratic city councilman in West Orange, for the job. Like Watson, Cirilo already serves as executive director of another authority \u2013 in his case, the Passaic Housing Authority. Cirilo was never formally appointed since the Passaic board would not approve the shared services agreement, Terebush said.<\/p>\n

Watson was the next candidate selected and has been serving in the role ever since.<\/p>\n

With housing authorities receiving less money from the Department of Housing and Urban Development due to sequestration in Washington, many are beginning to team up and share executive directors, Terebush said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is now common practice with small housing authorities. It\u2019s a cost savings factor\u201d said Watson. \u201cWhen you have small housing authorities, EDs can do it with technology.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though the agreement calls for alternating two and three day weeks at both the Brick and Ocean City authorities, Watson said need dictates her schedule more than any other factor.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I need to be there three days a week or four, I\u2019m going to be there,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m making sure I\u2019m visible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watson said since coming to Brick, she has focused on starting programs to help residents become more self-sufficient where they can. She has also started Bible studies in community rooms, and worked with local churches to make Communion available to residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal is to create a good quality of life for our seniors,\u201d Watson said.<\/p>\n

Additionally, Watson is currently in the process of helping to secure a $283,000 safety and security grant for the facility.<\/p>\n

\u201cThings like this, where she is really experienced in knowing how to move an authority and a complex forward, are certainly worth talking about,\u201d Terebush said.<\/p>\n

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The new executive director of the Brick Township Housing Authority is heralded by officials as a caring advocate for residents who goes above and beyond the call of duty, though nine years ago she had to step down from a similar position in Atlantic City after a newspaper revealed criminal convictions in her past. Nearly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4106,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[1139,24,1140,1141],"class_list":["post-4093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-alesia-r-watson","tag-brick-nj-news","tag-housing-authority-of-the-township-of-brick","tag-ocean-city-housing-authority"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/watson_housing.png","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgt2Ft-141","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4093"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4093\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}