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Agency Gets Chief

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TBO.com

Published: December 20, 2008

TAMPA - Hillsborough County's troubled affordable housing office is getting a new director.

In a statement issued late Friday afternoon, County Administrator Pat Bean said Valmarie Turner, the current manager of the contracts unit, had been appointed director of the Affordable Housing Department. Turner has worked in the department for two years and previously managed affordable housing programs in Daytona Beach and Georgia. She will oversee 25 employees.

She inherits a department rocked by allegations of mismanagement that caused the county to lose $2 million in federal funds last year. An internal audit released two weeks ago characterized a department in disarray from 2004 to 2006, and referred to the county's previous housing management as "inept" and lacking "ambition and initiative."

The department helps low- to moderate-income residents get safe, low-cost housing. In addition to naming Turner, the statement said Mike Merrill, the county's Utilities and Commerce Administrator, had been named affordable housing officer.

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