The Easton Housing Authority’s executive director abruptly resigned late last year, according to one of the housing authority board members.
Tyler Martin resigned via email in November, according to board member Terrance Hand. He took the remainder of his vacation time and left the authority on Dec. 5 to take a new job as executive director of the Princeton Housing Authority.
Martin’s departure comes as the housing authority navigates a major initiative to convert the former Easton Home retirement center into affordable housing. Martin was also seeking tax credits to complete renovations to some of the authority’s major high-rise properties, including Harlan House.
“He left us in the lurch,” Hand told lehighvalleylive.com.
Martin declined to comment on his departure from Easton.
“I wish the EHA team and board all the best in the future,” he said via email Wednesday.
Martin was hired in June 2022. His chief responsibility was to shepherd the authority through the federal Choice Neighborhoods program, which would pump $30 to $50 million into new public housing in the West Ward and transform the city the same way the HOPE VI / Neston Heights development transformed the South Side.
But the master developer pulled out of the Easton Housing Authority’s proposal at the last minute, causing the authority to miss a deadline to apply for the funds in late 2023. The next year, the funding pool dried up.
Easton Housing Authority Finance Director Jacqueline Lopez has been tapped as interim director for the authority. She was second in command to Martin for the past two years.
She convinced the authority board to give her a 90-day trial run as interim director beginning Dec. 5.
Easton Housing Authority Interim Executive Director Jacqueline Lopez attends the city’s housing authority meeting on Jan. 20, 2026.Rudy Miller | For lehighvalleylive.com
By early March, the board can decide whether to hire her permanently or conduct an external search for a new director.
Hand thanked Lopez for taking the reins.
“She stepped right in without hesitation,” he said at Tuesday’s meeting.
The board agreed Tuesday to give Lopez a $1,000-a-month raise while she fills in as interim director. Lopez said she made $100,000 a year as finance director.
The board asked its administration to study the appropriate pay for the future permanent executive director. The authority will look at what comparably sized communities pay their housing authority directors.
Martin was hired at a salary of $115,000 a year. It’s not clear what he was earning when he left in December.
The Easton Housing Authority met on Jan. 20, 2026. From left: Interim Executive Director Jacqueline Lopez; board members Clay Mitman, Terrance Hand and Luis Campos; and solicitor Kent Herman.Rudy Miller | For lehighvalleylive.com