Clendinen Resigns From VIHFA Amid HUD Suspension; Derek Gabriel Expected to Become Chief Executive

Dayna Clendinen resigned Friday from the V.I. Housing Finance Authority, ending a tenure that included more than two years as the agency’s interim executive director and, most recently, service as chief operating officer and chief disaster recovery officer, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter. The Consortium has also learned that Department of Public Works Commissioner Derek Gabriel is expected to leave DPW and take over as VIHFA’s executive director. Rueben Jennings, the department’s current assistant commissioner, is expected to serve as acting Public Works commissioner, sources familiar with the developments said. The precise dates for Gabriel’s move and Jennings’s elevation were not immediately available. The changes had not been publicly announced by Government House, VIHFA or DPW as of Friday evening. Clendinen’s departure comes less than two weeks after the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development suspended VIHFA from future federal procurement and...