Altoona Housing Authority Executive Director Cheryl Johns is pictured in front of the Fairview Hills apartments along First Street in Altoona. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

In 1999, the Altoona Drug and Crime Commission issued a scathing report about the infiltration of drugs and its associated crime in the city, criticizing the Salvation Army Rehabilitation Center and the Right Turn drug rehab center for drawing big-city drug dealers — and to a lesser extent, the Altoona Housing Authority, for providing those dealers and clients subsidized places to live.

The report alleged that the authority had failed to conduct adequate background checks on Section 8 applicants, resulting in problems, especially at the Penn Alto housing project — criticism that in the following years led ultimately to more stringent vetting and rapid eviction of miscreants by the authority.

Starting in 2000 as deputy director and becoming executive director in 2004, Cheryl Johns helped with the organization’s recovery from those problems identified by the commission, according to board Chairman Mitch Cooper, former commission member and retired city police officer, speaking this week as Johns prepares to retire.

After that auspicious start, Johns has helped keep the authority on a righteous path since then, according to Cooper.

“I got in there, and then it was, ‘what can we do to make a difference,'” said Johns, recalling her early days at the authority. “(What can we do) to clean up the developments?”

A drug elimination grant allowed the authority to hire city police officers to conduct patrols, while other initiatives involved the state Attorney General’s office and later Operation Our Town.

Johns and her staff worked to ensure that drug dealers and individuals convicted of drug-related crimes weren’t housed at authority developments, which allowed residents to have safe, quality housing, Cooper said.

That meant that Altoona avoided “the violence we see in other housing authorities not just in Pennsylvania, but nationwide,” Cooper said.

Later, as times changed and drug problems in society overall escalated, with crack, heroin, meth and eventually fentanyl, Johns “led the charge on making sure the Housing Authority was not infiltrated,” Cooper said.

“Cheryl was always a great partner,” said Altoona Police Chief Derek Swope, whose officers still patrol at Fairview Hills and the Towers, under a contract with the authority.

“It’s apparent she values the safety of the residents,” Swope said.

Key to ensuring the success of that mission is staff talking to residents, getting to know them and hearing their concerns — even as they make sure residents are aware of the rules and regulations and that those rules and regulations will be enforced, she said.

The rules require good housekeeping, registering overnight guests, paying rent on time and not destroying property.

That doesn’t mean there isn’t some give and take.

“When people break the rules, management staff meets with them,” Johns said. “They try and work through (the) situation.”

But sometimes, “our hand is forced and they have to be evicted,” she said.

There is zero tolerance for serious crimes, including felony drug dealing.

On average, the authority needs to get police involved with particular tenants two or three times a year, Johns said.

The problems that surface in authority developments with drugs and mental health issues are problems that plague society in general, according to Johns.

It has helped that the Gloria Gates Foundation has operated an afterschool program at Fairview Hills.

It also helps that the apartments the authority operates are nice, according to Johns.

She tells her maintenance workers that when they walk out of a newly rehabilitated apartment to accommodate a resident changeover they should turn around and walk back in again, she said.

As they do so, they should ask themselves, “Would I live here?” and if the answer is “Yes,” then and only then is the apartment ready for a new family, she said.

The authority’s mission is to provide safe and affordable housing, Johns said.

“It takes a village,” she said.

Moving forward

Looking beyond her retirement, the Housing Authority is likely to develop additional housing — perhaps another 30 units, Johns said.

Those units could be public housing or Section 8, although the Department of Housing and Urban Development is currently not open to giving more Section 8 vouchers, she said.

Johns’ last meeting as executive director will be in July.

At the meeting in June, she gathered her management staff and praised them all.

“I do have high standards, (but) I don’t have to micromanage,” Johns said. “They do their jobs damn well. I’ll miss them.”

The board accepted Johns’ resignation “with deepest regret,” said member Bruce Kelley.

Johns will remain for a year as a consultant, in exchange for the authority paying her COBRA benefits.

Deputy Director Brad Kanuch will be interim executive director, with the expectation that he will take over as executive director if he performs well.

“It’s up to Brad to prove himself,” Johns said.

“I’ll do my best,” said Kanuch, who came to the authority in 2012, beginning as the manager at Fairview Hills.

He will earn $107,000 pending a final decision on whether he becomes executive director.

“I think the board believes that Brad has shown his capabilities,” Cooper said. “I really believe the transition will be seamless.”

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.

The Johns file

Name: Cheryl (Reck) Johns

Age: 63

Family: Parents, Norman “Bill” and Marian Reck of Mount Union; husband, Robin Johns; children, Ashley (Jimmy) and Tyler (Jamie); grandchildren: Gavin, Colin, Maddox, Matthew and Hannah.

Education: Mount Union Area High School, Class of 1980

Professional life: Administrative officer at the Huntingdon County Housing Authority, 1993-2000; deputy executive director at the Altoona Housing Authority 2000-04; executive director at the AHA 2004-2026.

Post-retirement plans: Enjoy my family; spend time with my grandchildren; travel with my husband, wherever the wind takes us. Who knows?