Brunswick Housing Authority Executive Director Chris Baisden has been dismissed, a move that the head of the board of commissioners described as positive for the community after years of controversy.
“It’s nothing to be concerned about. It actually will make things much better,” Housing Authority Board Chair Kamau Dickerson told The Current GA.
The board terminated Baisden on Monday, but Dickerson declined to provide a reason, citing confidentiality. Lisa Dickerson, who is not related to the board chair and has four decades of experience working with the federal housing authority, was appointed interim executive director.
Baisden did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The housing authority has been mired in controversy for years. In 2023, then- Chairman William Kitts and Executive Director William Baker left their posts after a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development report accused them of misspending and charging illegal fees to residents.
In October 2023, Baisden, a former tax lawyer who served as assistant attorney general at the Florida Attorney General’s office, was the sole finalist to become the new executive director. Housing authority commissioners at the time believed Baisden would be able to right the ship amid multiple federal policy changes enacted by the second Trump administration.
But much like most of the country, Brunswick’s agency strained under financial challenges stemming in part from new federal budget cuts and mandated work requirements.
In March 2025, The Current reported that one out of every eight of the agency’s 763 federally subsidized rental units sat empty, and the waitlist for those properties exceeded 1,000. At the time, Basiden said his agency did not have the funds to issue vouchers to new tenants who qualify for federally subsidized rents.
The housing authority was also embroiled in a yearslong battle with a local community housing group, Hand in Hand of Glynn. The previous head of the Brunswick Housing Authority had originally promised 60 project vouchers to Hand in Hand. HUD approved the request, but Baisden said HUD was wrong to affirm the commitment because Hand in Hand did not have the services in place that would justify project-based vouchers, namely medical services.
Brunswick’s new interim director, Lisa Dickerson, has been working at the Brunswick office as head of housing for approximately two months, according to the board chair.
In October 2024, local TV station KSHB reported that Dickerson resigned as executive director of the Lee’s Summit Housing Authority in Missouri. She hadn’t been with the agency for a full year. The reason for her resignation was not disclosed to the public.
“This is an opportunity to rebuild this organization to what it needs to be,” he said.
