Old Rent War soldiers don’t die, they just take organizing jobs in Connecticut. Billy Easton, for five years Our Man in Albany for the New York State Tenants and Neighbors Coalition, has quit to take a union job in Norwich, Connecticut. Easton, who spent most of the last two years fighting Senate majority leader Joe Bruno’s attempt to scuttle the state’s rent regulations, returns to his organizer roots to work for that state’s hotel and restaurant workers’ union. His replacement, on an interim basis, is current NYSTNC staffer Joe Heaphy.
Fred Nehring, longtime head of Homesteaders Federal Credit Union, dodges treacherous board politics by escaping to Belfast–Maine, that is. Nehring, who helped found the credit union 12 years ago, will assume his new post as chief of Waldo Community Development Federal Credit Union on August 24th. Jose De La Cruz, currently second in command, takes on the role of acting manager.