City manager Sadhu Johnston says Mukhtar Latif is no longer employed by the city. It’s unclear why Vancouver has given fired its chief housing officer.
VANCOUVER – Vancouver’s chief housing officer Mukhtar Latif is no longer employed by the City of Vancouver. It’s unclear why Vancouver has given fired its chief housing officer.
City Manager Sadhu Johnston says the city is simply going in another direction in how it moves forward with its affordable housing projects.
“The City of Vancouver has made a change to how it implements affordable housing in Vancouver,” said a statement from city manager Sadhu Johnston.
“We’ve made much progress last year, including transitioning the Housing Policy and Projects division into the Community Services department and taking steps to address housing affordability through the reset of our Housing and Homelessness Strategy. To ensure that housing is coordinated and is top of mind for senior leaders within City Government, we have also established a Housing Leadership Table, which I Chair. Through this venue, all major housing initiatives are vetted and prioritized to ensure progress is made throughout the organization.
“As part of that transition, Mukhtar Latif, who has served as the chief housing officer (CHO) and CEO of VAHA (Vancouver Affordable Housing Agency), is no longer with the City of Vancouver, nor CEO of VAHA,” said Sadhu, who thanked Latif for his contribution to the city.
“In his role as CHO, Mukhtar took on the responsibility of directing housing policy and projects for several years, supporting the development of significant affordable housing policies, such as family housing and the development of an Aboriginal housing strategy.
As CEO of VAHA, he brought innovative building solutions to Vancouver, such as modular housing and got 1,000 units under development.”
Latif had been with the City of Vancouver since October 2013.
“Despite these leadership changes, VAHA remains a major delivery agent to get affordable housing on the ground in the city,” said Johnston.
“Effective immediately, Luke Harrison will serve as interim CEO of VAHA. Having worked in the role of senior planner at VAHA, Luke led a team of project directors and development managers to develop market and affordable rental housing on City of Vancouver land.”
