The Syracuse Housing Authority board unanimously selected new interim executive director Jalyn Clifford to helm the agency the same day SHA Executive Director Bill Simmons announced his surprise early retirement.
Clifford, who has served as Simmons’ deputy since 2022, begins in her new role on Saturday amid SHA’s billion-dollar redevelopment of public housing on the city’s Southside. Clifford’s old position as deputy executive director will remain vacant while the board conducts a national search for an executive director.
Born and raised in Nedrow, Clifford has strong roots in Syracuse and Central New York. Clifford’s father worked in maintenance at SHA and lived in Pioneer Homes for a couple of years, she said. Her grandmother lived in Central Village, Clifford said. The Brotherly Love Church of God in Christ started in her great aunt’s living room. An Onondaga Central School District graduate, Clifford grew up playing lacrosse…