{"id":92670,"date":"2026-01-21T16:39:23","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T16:39:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/92670\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T16:39:23","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T16:39:23","slug":"easton-housing-authority-director-has-resigned-he-left-us-in-the-lurch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/92670\/","title":{"rendered":"Easton Housing Authority director has resigned. \u2018He left us in the lurch.\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Easton Housing Authority<\/a>\u2019s executive director abruptly resigned late last year, according to one of the housing authority board members.<\/p>\n

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<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Martin\u2019s departure comes as the housing authority navigates a major initiative to convert the former Easton Home retirement center<\/a> into affordable housing. Martin was also seeking tax credits<\/a> to complete renovations to some of the authority\u2019s major high-rise properties, including Harlan House.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe left us in the lurch,\u201d Hand told lehighvalleylive.com.<\/p>\n

Martin declined to comment on his departure from Easton.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish the EHA team and board all the best in the future,\u201d he said via email Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Martin was hired in June 2022<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n

But the master developer pulled out<\/a> of the Easton Housing Authority\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

She convinced the authority board to give her a 90-day trial run as interim director beginning Dec. 5.<\/p>\n

\"JacquelineEaston Housing Authority Interim Executive Director Jacqueline Lopez attends the city\u2019s housing authority meeting on Jan. 20, 2026.Rudy Miller | For lehighvalleylive.com<\/p>\n

By early March, the board can decide whether to hire her permanently or conduct an external search for a new director.<\/p>\n

Hand thanked Lopez for taking the reins. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe stepped right in without hesitation,\u201d he said at Tuesday\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Martin was hired at a salary of $115,000 a year<\/a>. It\u2019s not clear what he was earning when he left in December.<\/p>\n

\"EastonThe 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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Easton Housing Authority\u2019s executive director abruptly resigned late last year, according to one of the housing authority…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":92671,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154],"class_list":{"0":"post-92670","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bethlehem","8":"tag-bethlehem","9":"tag-bethlehem-headlines","10":"tag-bethlehem-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92670"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92670\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}