NORTHAMPTON — The Northampton Housing Authority on Monday rescinded a controversial rule that had forbidden residents of the seven-story McDonald House from using window air conditioners.
Though she believes the ban was well-reasoned and well-intentioned, Executive Director Cara Clifford reversed course this week because of a misperception that the housing authority was trying to deny residents air conditioning.
“As a result I decided to rescind the policy,” she said, adding that public pressure did not factor into her decision.
Some 1,300 people signed a petition over five days asking the housing authority to rescind the rule. Ron Hebert, a McDonald House resident, felt the petition contributed to the shift in policy.
“I want to thank the people … that signed the petition,” Hebert said.
He said the change will not affect him, as he sold his window air conditioner to pay for a portable unit, and he plans to make do with it and three fans.
“If we get another heat wave I might consider it (getting a window unit),” Hebert said, who has said the portable unit doesn’t cool his residence as well as his old window unit did.
Hebert did say that the ruling will help others who live in the building on Old South Street near downtown.
“I know there’s a lot of people that it’s going to help,” he said.
Hebert said he is aware of a number of residents who still have their window air conditioners.
Clifford said in a note to tenants at McDonald and Walter Salvo House that staff will assist in the installation of window air conditioning units at no charge on Tuesday, though residents will have to put in work orders if they would like window air conditioners to be installed later.
Monday’s announcement ends two months of controversy over the ban, which the housing authority put in place on May 2 for the first time. The authority said the ban was needed for safety, liability and workers’ compensation issues.
“It was a safety issue that I was addressing,” she said, saying that the belief was that it would be better for residents, staff and liability.
She noted that there had been some staff injuries around the installation of the window air conditioners in the past. And although no one has been hurt by falling air conditioners in Northampton, Clifford said that such incidents have occurred elsewhere.
Following the initial announcement, the authority offered $100 rental credits for those who bought portable air conditioners. Later on, the authority also offered portable air conditioners for purchase for $200, either all at once or on a payment plan.
Clifford said Monday that a decision has not been reached yet on whether residents can return the portable units.
McDonald House resident Jude Sidney said that the housing authority should pay for the window air conditioners that residents got rid of because they didn’t think they would be able to use them.
Although the rule applied to residents at both McDonald and Walter Salvo, another public housing high-rise located on Conz Street, all units at Salvo are equipped with sleeves that air conditioners can be installed in. Nevertheless, Clifford said she still received complaints from some Salvo residents.
Monday’s order also effectively rescinds a separate rule this spring that forbade maintenance staff from installing window air conditioners at any of the authority’s properties. That means that residents at all of the authority’s properties can ask for installation, though the focus on Tuesday will be at McDonald and Walter Salvo, Clifford said.
Elizabeth Brown, a shift manager at Cornucopia Foods in Northampton who does not live at McDonald House, started the petition to get the rule rescinded last Thursday that had more than 1,300 signatures on Monday.
Brown expressed happiness at the news of the rule’s reversal, and that she and others will now turn their attention to other issues at the housing authority, as well as making sure that the authority follows through on the air conditioning issue.
Brown said several issues came up at a Sunday meeting attended by McDonald House residents, people who live in other public housing buildings and community members who don’t live in public housing. Among those issues were maintenance and heat at the housing authority.
“We see this as kind of an opening,” Brown said .
Bera Dunau can be reached at bdunau@gazettenet.com.