legislation

Whereas: why we need a law to stop bullying

The Stop Bullying Coalition recently had the honor to meet with our elected representatives, Senator Joan Lovely (2nd Essex) and Representative Thomas Walsh (Peabody), to advocate for consideration of our proposed legislation designed to address two critical needs of tenants who are elderly or living with disability, and reside in public or subsidized housing, and are victims of bullying.

A bill protecting elderly and persons with disability from bullying, mobbing, and hostile environment harassment in multifamily subsidized and public housing. This bill mandates and empowers the trained abuse investigators of the Department of Elder Affairs and the Disabled Persons Protection Commission to investigate complaints of bullying, and to refer as appropriate situations of hostile environment harassment and mobbing for prosecution of the landlord by the Attorney General or the District Attorneys. The Stop Bullying Coalition is advocating for this legislation, and the draft text can be reviewed here. We seek your input and support.

Letter to Attorney General Maura Healey, revised for publication: I write to seek your advice and help to resolve the problem of bullying in multifamily public and subsidized housing, the home to 92,000 residents, including elderly and people with disability.

Letter to Hon Charles D Baker, seeking action on bullying of elderly and disabled persons in public and subsidized housing. Revised for publication.

We have a vision and plan for a home that is safe, secure, and peaceful, protecting us from bullying and harassing. The storms of mobbing and hostile environment harassment are the worst threats. When a community harasses and bullies a victim, and the landlord initiates, condones, or ignores these attacks, that is mobbing. When victims are unable to have the peaceful enjoyment of their residency, that is hostile environment harassment. We need to create protection for victims and hold landlords to account for their illegal behavior.

On October 19, 2017, Jerry Halberstadt, Coordinator of the Stop Bullying Coalition and a Commissioner of the Massachusetts Commission on Bullying, spoke on the role of advocacy and legislation on bullying at the online conference of the National Workplace Bullying Coalition in the context of National Bullying Awareness Month.

The committee to assess the prevalence and scale of bullying will meet on July 17 from 10:30am-12pm

Purpose

Where

100 Cambridge Street, Boston, MA. Second Floor Conference Room B

I am enjoying the challenge of being a Commissioner, because it gives me a chance to work on your behalf, partnering with dedicated public servants. We need your input and support to solve the problem of bullying and thus make our public and subsidized housing healthy and safe places to live.

When we as citizens get together with our representatives, democracy happpens. Thank you for your support and partnership in the effort to develop a legislative study of the problem of bullying. Your phone calls and letters were a significant factor in convincing legislative leaders to support our bill, S1984. Together we have helped to create national landmark legislation, establishing the Massachusetts Commission to Study Ways to Prevent Bullying of Tenants in Public and Subsidized Multi-Family Housing, pursuant to Chapter 2 of the Resolves of 2016.