Troubled housing agency gets new chief
February 23, 2010
Daniel Dale
STAFF REPORTER
Many executives, perhaps particularly female executives, would shudder at being described as "sensitive." Keiko Nakamura uses the word to describe herself.
Nakamura, 37, has been named CEO of Toronto Community Housing Corporation after serving as acting CEO since May, when Derek Ballantyne left the post. Her appointment was announced internally on Monday.
As leader of a cash-strapped landlord agency in the midst of one major revitalization project in Regent Park and about to embark on another in Lawrence Heights, Nakamura must think with the calculating mind of a corporate honcho. But she says she will also listen to tenants with the sympathetic ear she trained as a sociology student and honed as a manager with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
"I'm proud about being sensitive," she said.
"At the end of the day, I always have to be grounded: I'm here to serve a group of individuals in Toronto who are disadvantaged in so many different ways. Often, what people say in terms of 'heart' or 'sensitivity,' they (may suggest are) signs of weakness. But quite frankly, to me, in my particular business, it's a skill and capability that you need."
Nakamura's appointment comes after a tumultuous year when TCHC successes were sometimes overshadowed by controversy over how tenants are treated. Under Nakamura, TCHC began a review of the eviction of Al Gosling, 82, who fell ill while homeless and died.
Nakamura, who previously served as chief operating officer, was the board's unanimous choice. It did not interview others.
"I wouldn't have taken this job had it been a status quo job, or one that didn't have its challenges," she said. "That's what actually intrigued me about it. I think the difficulty for me is that I have to realize that with 165,000 people living in Toronto Community Housing, I won't be able to please everybody. And I think generally that's my nature. I like to be able to personally hear people's stories and concerns and figure out how I can help resolve and address (them)."
She acknowledges significant improvement is still needed.
Sarah Shartal, a lawyer behind a lawsuit trying to force the TCHC to make badly needed repairs, said she has noticed improved responsiveness to the tenant problems she raises.
But problems remain pervasive.
"They're a little easier to deal with. But the problems are still continuing, and it's precisely the same things ... There really has to be an entire change in the way the organization is run. It goes beyond this person or that person."
Toronto Star