The distractions continue for Ivory Mathews, the new executive director of the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh. But the question now is if these rapidly are becoming more than mere “distractions.”
Mathews was hired in September under a cloud – on ongoing ethics investigation over her travel spending at her previous job as chief of Home Forward, the housing authority in Portland, Ore. That investigation continues.
Now comes word from media out that way that the federal government has entered that probe and that local officials there also are attempting to reconcile budgetary inconsistencies during her tenure (as WESA-FM first reported locally).
Mathews, who began her Pittsburgh job on Oct. 1, tells the radio station she is cooperating with all the inquiries. She is being paid $250,000 annually.
Mathews was given a $171,000-plus severance package in Portland that added in unused PTO time and was eligible for up to $50,000 to help her find a new job, media accounts note. She was paid nearly $343,000 a year there. She resigned her Oregon position in May.
The Oregonian newspaper reports that Mathews’ travel expenses and reimbursements now are the subject of an inquiry by the Inspector General’s Office of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. That, given such a large bolus of local housing dollars come from the feds.
And just last week, the Willamette Week, citing an email to staff, reported that Home Forward has revealed that its $38 million budget deficit going into 2027 is higher than first understood — at $13.8 million.
“Though [Home Forward interim executive director Michael] Buonocore didn’t name responsible parties, his email suggested that prior leadership had severely miscalculated the current year’s budget deficit.”
Which brings us to Mathews’ Pittsburgh hiring. Was it, too, a “severe miscalculation”? The matter of questioned travel expenses had not been resolved at the time of her hiring. And new questions about her budgeting acumen arise after her hiring.
So, what kind of due diligence was done in Mathews’ vetting process?
That Pittsburgh housing authority officials hired Mathews knowing of the outstanding ethics issue raises serious questions about their hiring processes. How could she be hired locally without those questions resolved? And now, the budget the questions have arisen.
Are there any other questions lurking about Ivory Mathews’ tenure in Portland? The public has every right to know. And if there are, it has every right to know why the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh did not.
Colin McNickle is communications and marketing director at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy (cmcnickle@alleghenyinstitute.org).
