Town of Arlington, Fair Housing Action Plan (July 2021)

Citation
Town of Arlington, Fair Housing Action Plan (July 2021)
Jurisdiction
Arlington (municipal)
Source
Official source
Original Source
https://www.arlingtonma.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/57214/637641171662530000 ↗

Related Parts of This Source

Full Text

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Housing Authority Governance
The AHA is overseen by the Housing Authority Board, which is comprised of five members.34 Four members are
voted by town, and one is appointed by the governor. Currently, two board members are women and three are
men, while one is Latina and four are White. One member of the board is an AHA tenant. (Massachusetts’
recently passed Housing Choice legislation requires that housing authority boards include at least one housing
authority tenant.) The board elects a chair from its members annually. In 2020, the board elected its first AHA
tenant as the board chair, though he retired the next month. 35,36
Four AHA properties have established tenants’ associations. Menotomy Manor, the family housing development,
has not had a tenants’ association in nine years, but the Housing Authority Board voted to reestablish its tenants’
association in February 2021.37
Assessment: AHA governance bodies need to reflect the population the AHA intends to serve. Currently, with a
majority white male board of mostly non-tenants, governance does not appear representative. To ensure fair

34 https://www.arlingtonhousing.org/board_of_directors.php#
35 https://www.wickedlocal.com/story/arlington-advocate/2020/06/04/arlington-housing-authority-elects-first-tenant-as-

chairman/114630086/
36 https://www.yourarlington.com/arlington-archives/town-school/elections/18540-mitropoulos-031821.html
37 https://patch.com/massachusetts/arlington/housing-authority-board-advances-process-reestablish-menotomy-tenants-group

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housing choice is a consistent part of AHA governance, the AHA should help tenants from diverse backgrounds be
part of the governance structure, as part of tenants’ associations and as candidates for the board.