"Noah Schwartz is the newest director of the Charlottesville Housing Authority, the agency that oversees the City’s public housing stock and which has been under scrutiny from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for three years running. Schwartz and his staff have been given just one year to improve CHA’s standing. Schwartz talked recently about what he was doing to get CHA back on its feet—both in the eyes of HUD and city residents.

C-VILLE: What is it going to take for the Charlottesville Housing Authority to be successful?

Noah Schwartz: Housing is a big part of the anti-poverty issue. I mean, is our goal just providing housing, or should our goal be broader than that in addressing poverty issues? So that more of the folks that we provide subsidized housing to are able to participate in a wider range of housing options, so that they’ve got the training they need to get the jobs they need so that they have a broader set of choices? Are we working in partnership with the schools so that the 48 percent of our public housing residents who are under the age of 18 are getting the support they need? I think we’ve got to look at all of that if we’re going to be successful.

How do you see yourself accomplishing what past directors haven’t been able to accomplish?

I think we’ve got to have the intent to do things differently than we have in the past. You can’t just be there to punch the clock.

What would you tell public housing residents, for instance residents of Westhaven, who hear rumors of redevelopment in their neighborhood all the time?

I would tell them what I told them [three] weeks ago: Redevelopment is going to happen at some point, and when we’re ready to have serious discussions, you’ll hear it from me. There’s not a whole lot we’re doing with it right now." (Esther Brown, C-Ville Weekly, February 28, 2006)