Accountability for Housing Authorities Is Lacking

The March 27, 2025 report in the Daily Hampshire Gazette, "Northampton Housing Authority boss placed on leave," by Alexander MacDougall, reveals that employees of the NHA filed a complaint against the executive director of the housing authority. The commissioners of the HA board should have responded to complaints by tenants as well as staff long before that complaint by past and current employees. The NHA  board of commissioners is the legal provider of housing and responsible for protecting staff as well as tenants from harassment and should act without being required to by the Commonwealth.

There are ongoing conflicts among tenants, fear due to the lack of security, and some individuals appear to  experience  harassment. It is unfair that when tenants complain, they rarely if ever get relief, and when staff complains, they get an investigation of their concerns.

The failure of the Northampton Housing Authority board of commissioners  to be diligent in their fiduciary duty points to a systemic problem in public and subsidized housing.

To address the lack of oversight and protect tenants from harassment, Senator Joan B. Lovely and Representative Sally Kerans propose House 1814 to create the office of the tenant advocate in the Office of the Attorney General.

This article was intended as a letter to the editor of the Daily Hampshire Gazette. It was published there on April 4, 2025.