Hightstown Housing Director to Leave by Fall

Amy Aughenbaugh, a Realtor and former borough mayor, gave notice today that she plans to leave her position as executive director of the . Her resignation comes one day after .

“My husband and I are relocating to the Southwest,” she said, specifically the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas. “It's a happy, happy move.”

In her six years with the HHA, she has overseen the 100 low-income residences that fall under the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. She also works part-time for her family’s Hightstown-based real estate agency, .

Aughenbaugh said she plans to leave in the summer, but will stay with the HHA until the Board of Commissioners can find and train a new executive director, a process which can take some time.

“I’m going to be here for a while, until they find a replacement,” she said. “I'll stay until they find that person.”

Aughenbaugh has been a Realtor for 11 years, starting out first at on Route 130 in East Windsor and then transitioning to the family business.

She also spent five years as an elected official, one as a councilwoman and four as mayor.  She said she was proud of her work revitalizing the downtown, and of a program that sent the borough nurse to visit families with new babies to tell them where to get services.

Moving from a small town like Hightstown to a city in Texas will have trade-offs, she said.

“I like a small-town atmosphere, and I’m probably going to miss that because I’m going into a city like Dallas,” she said. But on the other hand, she continued, “I’m looking for culture and entertainment and arts and things like that that Dallas offers.”

Once the couple arrives in Texas, by the fall, Aughenbaugh said she planned to look for a job similar to the one she had with the HHA.

“I love my job so much here, I do want to stay in public housing,” she said.