The Jacksonville Housing Authority appointed a new interim chief financial officer after a Utah executive who had been hired as CFO ended up not taking the job.
Mamie L. Davis, a Jacksonville attorney and certified public accountant with substantial involvement in local nonprofits, agreed in late August to accept the position on an interim basis.
The move comes after Tyson Montoya, who had been appointed as CFO in June by the JHA board, turned down the position before his July 3 start date.
Montoya, then the CFO of the Utah Communications Authority, was chosen after a nationwide search following the departure of former CFO Dennis Lohr in mid-May.
JHA media contact John Finotti, of the Tucker/Hall public relations firm, said a search for someone to fill the CFO role on a long-term basis would begin after the conclusion of a search for a JHA chief executive officer.
The CEO position is being filled on an interim basis by Roslyn Mixon-Phillips, a local business operator and former JHA board chair who served 28 years with the city of Jacksonville as chief community officer/director of recreation and community services.
According to a bio provided by the JHA, Davis is proprietor of Mamie L. Davis P.A., a firm specializing in legal and professional accounting services specializing in estate planning, probate and guardianship law, bankruptcy and other areas.
Her past roles included serving as an area audit supervisor for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and trustee for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Middle District of Florida’s Jacksonville division.
A past president of the Jacksonville Bankruptcy Bar Association and Daniel Webster Perkins Bar Association, she has served on the boards of such nonprofits as Catholic Charities and Historic Stanton Inc.
The JHA has faced scrutiny stemming from a city Office of Inspector General’s report in December 2023 claimed that of nearly $2 million in funding placed on prepaid housing authority debit cards to help low-income residents make utility payments, only $268,473 was spent on utilities.
In January 2024, CEO Dwayne Alexander stepped down, and the board appointed chief operating officer Vanessa Dunn as acting CEO in February with a one-year contract. Dunn stepped down in early August.
On Aug. 28, authorities arrested former JHA deputy CFO Gregory Samuel Williams, 57, on a charge of fraudulent use of a credit card in connection with the Office of Inspector General investigation. Officials claim Williams, who was fired by JHA in May, used the prepaid cards at an area Publix store and Biscottis bistro in Avondale.
JHA provides about 2,300 public housing units and 1,000 affordable housing units to low- and moderate-income residents in developments and sites in Jacksonville.
The organization, established in 1994, also administers roughly 8,300 housing choice vouchers for low-income families, the elderly and the disabled. The authority runs several resident service programs, including homeownership programs, career training and self-sufficiency programming.