The board of the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority on Wednesday tapped Damon E. Duncan as the new chief executive officer as the agency continues to struggle to keep the heat on in a small portion of its nearly 4,000 public housing units.

Mr. Duncan, who is expected to begin work by April, has served for seven years as the chief executive officer of the housing authority in Elgin, Ill., a city of about 112,000 residents located 35 miles northwest of Chicago.

As of Feb. 15, RRHA reported that 15 apartments have no heat because of boiler-related issues, while 42 other units have only partial heat.

Space heaters have been distributed to affected families, RRHA stated, but RRHA officials did not provide any indication of when the heating issues that have persisted all winter would be resolved. — JEREMY M. LAZARUS