Mildred Hailey to Retire From Bromley-Heath Tenant Management Corp.

It's the end of an era at , as the woman who co-founded the public housing community's tenant management company retires and management will be taken over by the Boston Housing Authority.

Mildred Hailey, who for 40 years has led the development, plans to retire on March 31 from the Bromley-Heath Tenant Management Corp., according to a press release from the Housing Authority.

"The TMC and Mildred have in many instances performed admirably over the years. However, for everything there is a season," said Housing Authority Administrator Bill McGonagle in the press release.  "I respect Mildred’s decision to retire.  She has earned the opportunity to rest and reflect on her many accomplishments."

The Housing Authority will take over "day-to-day" management once Hailey retires. Starting Feb. 21, two Housin Authority staffers will start working at Bromley-Heath to prepare for the transition.

The Housing Authority says it will work with the Tenant Management Corp. board "to determine how best to move forward over the long term."

Bromley-Heath has been the the last major urban housing development run by its own tenants.

"Hailey’s retirement ends an historic era in tenant management of public housing," said McGonagle in the press release.  Founded in the early 1970s, The Bromley-Heath TMC has been managing the Bromley-Heath development since that time.  

In a 1998 interview, Hailey recalled that when she and her group took over, Bromley-Heath, "there was garbage everywhere, 4,000 broken windows, leaky roofs and not enough money to completely manage the buildings to bring back the full capacity of quality housing."