To provide better help to Sacramento residents without stable housing, city and county leaders have brought on a new face to lead the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency.“We wanted someone who could come and take a fresh look and look under the hood and see what we could do to bring about more efficiencies to better serve our taxpayers and better help people who are in desperate need of housing,” said Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty Wednesday. The Sacramento City Attorney announced the appointment of Kris Warren, of CVR Associates, to serve as executive officer on Tuesday. The announcement came during Tuesday’s city council meeting following a closed session discussion about the vacant position. The city council voted unanimously.Sacramento city and county leaders jointly run the SHRA. The executive officer will oversee the day-to-day operation of the agency that manages public housing stock and the Housing Choice Voucher Program, formerly known as Section 8. “I’m excited to bring in somebody with an outside perspective,” said Supervisor Patrick Kennedy, of the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors. Kennedy acknowledged his previous criticism of the agency, adding he believes it could be run more effectively and that processes could be streamlined to better serve people in need of housing assistance. He stressed how valuable he believed an independent audit of the agency could be.”People need housing. We have too many people living on the street. Too many people who are living in insecure housing. We have to do better and SHRA can potentially play a huge role in that,” he said. “I welcome her to be able to find where we can be better.”KCRA 3 has previously reported on the frustrations felt by some Sacramento residents with the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency. A woman who did not wish to be identified told KCRA 3 she has repeatedly waited in long, early morning lines to get questions about her housing answered after struggling to use the online portal. She said this is so common, she often recognizes others in line from prior attempts.“It’s just so sad,” she said. Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty said city leaders are looking holistically at its housing programs, as affordable housing and homelessness remain high priorities. As a part of that effort, city and county leaders have both called on CVR Associates to audit the SHRA. “What are we spending our money on? Are we getting our biggest bang for our buck?” McCarty said. “How are we looking at other ways to serve more people? Because in an era of cuts from the Trump administration, fewer dollars from the state and pressure at the local level, we need to be more efficient with our taxpayer dollars. That means looking under the hood, seeing how we could do things differently.”Vice Mayor Karina Talamantes stressed Wednesday the need for more collaboration and communication between the city and the county when it comes to tackling affordable housing in Sacramento – and in the running of the SHRA. “We need more housing rapidly, quickly and a lot more affordable housing,” she said. “A lot of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck and this is where the city and the county need to be in agreement on this joint powers authority and the direction of this joint powers authority.”She echoed the need for an audit to be completed. “For me, if we get an opportunity to do more with less and figure out how we can be more efficient about how it can be more transparent, how we can be more accountable, then it’s a win for Sacramento,” Talamantes said.Warren will work on a one-year contract.A spokesperson for SHRA was unable to provide a comment Wednesday on Warren’s appointment to the role or the calls for an audit of the agency. CVR Associates did not return requests for comment for this story.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

SACRAMENTO, Calif. —

To provide better help to Sacramento residents without stable housing, city and county leaders have brought on a new face to lead the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency.

“We wanted someone who could come and take a fresh look and look under the hood and see what we could do to bring about more efficiencies to better serve our taxpayers and better help people who are in desperate need of housing,” said Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty Wednesday.

The Sacramento City Attorney announced the appointment of Kris Warren, of CVR Associates, to serve as executive officer on Tuesday. The announcement came during Tuesday’s city council meeting following a closed session discussion about the vacant position. The city council voted unanimously.

Sacramento city and county leaders jointly run the SHRA. The executive officer will oversee the day-to-day operation of the agency that manages public housing stock and the Housing Choice Voucher Program, formerly known as Section 8.

“I’m excited to bring in somebody with an outside perspective,” said Supervisor Patrick Kennedy, of the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors.

Kennedy acknowledged his previous criticism of the agency, adding he believes it could be run more effectively and that processes could be streamlined to better serve people in need of housing assistance. He stressed how valuable he believed an independent audit of the agency could be.

“People need housing. We have too many people living on the street. Too many people who are living in insecure housing. We have to do better and SHRA can potentially play a huge role in that,” he said. “I welcome her to be able to find where we can be better.”

KCRA 3 has previously reported on the frustrations felt by some Sacramento residents with the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency.

A woman who did not wish to be identified told KCRA 3 she has repeatedly waited in long, early morning lines to get questions about her housing answered after struggling to use the online portal. She said this is so common, she often recognizes others in line from prior attempts.

“It’s just so sad,” she said.

Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty said city leaders are looking holistically at its housing programs, as affordable housing and homelessness remain high priorities.

As a part of that effort, city and county leaders have both called on CVR Associates to audit the SHRA.

“What are we spending our money on? Are we getting our biggest bang for our buck?” McCarty said. “How are we looking at other ways to serve more people? Because in an era of cuts from the Trump administration, fewer dollars from the state and pressure at the local level, we need to be more efficient with our taxpayer dollars. That means looking under the hood, seeing how we could do things differently.”

Vice Mayor Karina Talamantes stressed Wednesday the need for more collaboration and communication between the city and the county when it comes to tackling affordable housing in Sacramento – and in the running of the SHRA.

“We need more housing rapidly, quickly and a lot more affordable housing,” she said. “A lot of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck and this is where the city and the county need to be in agreement on this joint powers authority and the direction of this joint powers authority.”

She echoed the need for an audit to be completed.

“For me, if we get an opportunity to do more with less and figure out how we can be more efficient about how it can be more transparent, how we can be more accountable, then it’s a win for Sacramento,” Talamantes said.

Warren will work on a one-year contract.

A spokesperson for SHRA was unable to provide a comment Wednesday on Warren’s appointment to the role or the calls for an audit of the agency.

CVR Associates did not return requests for comment for this story.

See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel