AUGUSTA

John Gallagher feels right “at home” as director of the Maine State Housing Authority.

He served a similar role at the Westbrook Housing Authority, was program manager for the development division at the agency he now leads and has more than 20 years of experience in residential real estate.

Gallagher, of Bath, was nominated to lead the agency by Gov. Paul LePage in August, confirmed for his new post Sept. 6, and sworn in Oct. 1. He takes over for Peter Merrill, who had been acting director since March.

“Our focus is on the future of this organization,” Gallagher said. “While we may need to resolve a few issues from the past, we’re welcoming change and embracing opportunity. Our goal is to improve upon the work of this missiondriven agency. We’re going to do better.”

The agency, known as MaineHousing, seeks “to assist Maine people to obtain and maintain decent, safe, affordable housing and services suitable to their unique housing needs.”

Gallagher said he wants to put more focus on oversight.

“We were facing major issues with the Section 8 housing program being outsourced,” he said. “We’re working with (Housing and Urban Development) to make sure that all of those concerns are taken care of.”

Gallagher recalled that U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, had requested that HUD become involved following reports of substandard housing in the Norway area.

“It was enough that Sen. Collins and others were concerned that it might be more widespread than that,” he said. “The staff has inspected 1,700 units to ensure compliance since spring. To date, we’ve found five or six units in the Norway area and three others statewide that were substandard, and we had to move people out.”

A HUD audit report released early this month cited a failure to provide adequate oversight of its Section 8 housing program, leaving dozens of Maine families to live in substandard housing conditions. The audit, undertaken by HUD’s Office of Inspector General, inspected 61 Section 8 housing units and determined that 53 of them — or 87 percent of those inspected — did not meet HUD’s housing quality standards.

Gallahger and his staff also are dealing with the recent issues of medical marijuana use by federally-subsidized rental tenants.

On Wednesday, the MSHA decided to put off its “zero tolerance” policy on pot. Medical marijuana advocates and state Rep. Deborah Sanderson of Chelsea persuaded MSHA commissioners to impose an immediate six-month moratorium on their recent decision to deny housing vouchers to medical marijuana patients.

Gallagher has lived in Bath since 1971, when he served in the Navy at the former Brunswick Naval Air Station. He and his wife, the former Pauline Fortin of Brunswick, have a son, John “Joe” Gallagher, who lives in Topsham.

Dale McCormick resigned in March after conflicts with Treasurer Bruce Poliquin and four LePage appointees to the housing authority’s board. McCormick, a Democrat, had led MaineHousing since 2005.

McCormick’s resignation came after months of scrutiny into MaineHousing spending practices and the cost of affordable housing projects.

The Office of Program Evaluation and Governmental Accountablity said Maine- Housing may have spent more on food and entertainment than other state agencies, but found was no evidence of outof control spending or fraud.

Gallagher is certified and trained in public housing management, multi-family housing development finance, and housing credit underwriting.

He has held seats on the boards of the Maine Association of Public Housing Directors, Residential Initiatives for Maine, the Southern Maine Affordable Rental Housing Coalition, the Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors, the Northern New England Housing Investment Fund, and Avesta Housing.

He currently is vice president for professional development for the New England Regional Council of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, and is a member of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston’s Advisory Council, and the board of the Genesis Foundation and its investment committee.

lgrard@timesrecord.com