NORTHAMPTON — City Council President Ryan O’Donnell is calling for a reform at the Northampton Housing Authority that has the potential to dramatically reshape the power relationship between the authority and its tenants.
The plan calls for more than doubling the size of the authority’s five-member board to 11 members, filling those new positions with tenants. O’Donnell said he was prompted to call for the change after the authority’s decision this spring to forbid the use of window air conditioners at McDonald House and Walter Salvo House. The policy has since been rescinded.
“The people who live in public housing deserve a meaningful say over the policies that affect their lives,” O’Donnell said.
As such, he is proposing that the city launch a home-rule petition to the Legislature to change the composition of the housing authority’s board. Currently, the board consists of one member appointed by the governor, and four members appointed by the city’s mayor. Of the four mayoral appointees, one must be a tenant and another must represent organized labor. The tenant position on the board is currently vacant, although the current gubernatorial appointee is a tenant as well.
Under the draft version of O’Donnell’s reform, six new members, all tenants at housing authority properties, would be added to the board. These members would be elected by the tenants of the housing authority, though the draft doesn’t specify whether each individual property would be guaranteed representation. These members would be elected to two-year terms.
The authority’s executive director, Cara Clifford, who initiated the air-conditioner policy, declined to comment Tuesday afternoon, as did Mayor David Narkewicz.
Jeffrey Jones, the current chairman of the housing authority board, said O’Donnell did not consult him when crafting the proposal, and he is still trying to figure out what it means.
O’Donnell said he will likely introduce his proposal at the council’s July 26 meeting. He also said he is looking to get the input of the housing authority’s tenants through the council’s committee process, and that the details of the proposal are subject to change.
Bera Dunau can be reached at bdunau@gazettenet.com.