The Fair Housing Committee (FHC) and Housing Production Plan Implementation Committee (HPPIC) met June 17 for a hybrid meeting. In attendance from FHC were Kurt James, Alex Eitler, Dan Fox, Thatcher Kezer, Debra Larkin and Decon John Whipple. In attendance from the HPPIC were James, Eitler, Fox, Kezer, Whipple and Nisha Austin.
The minutes from the May 13 meeting were approved.
The agenda item for this meeting was the merging of the FHC and the HPPIC committees. There is significant overlap in the responsibilities of these two committees. At the last meeting, a motion was made and passed to merge the two committees, develop a new mission statement and suggest a membership roster for the merged committees.
There was discussion about the differences in the committees, for instance, the FHC has a focus on minority/low-income housing, whereas HPPIC does not. Fox suggested that the new mission statement preserve the purposes of both groups.
“The Marblehead Housing Committee” was agreed to as the proposed name for the new committee. Austin shared a proposed mission statement, which is as follows: “The Marblehead Housing Committee works to expand access to fair and affordable housing for all residents through education, advocacy and strategic implementation. We help the public and town officials understand housing challenges and opportunities while developing and implementing programs that expand, enhance and create diverse housing options in Marblehead.”
It was voted on and approved that the following be forwarded to the Select Board: merger of the two committees, the recommended proposed name and a proposed slate of committee members.
There was discussion about the proposed slate of members for the new committee. Kezer felt his presence on the committee as Town Administrator was not necessary, as he works closely with Town Planner Eitler. Fox stated he thought the Select Board could send a liaison to the meetings rather than have a member of the Board sit on the committee.
The number of at-large members to be included on the committee was discussed at length. It was suggested that too many at large members could create a quorum issue. After discussion, it was agreed that there would be nine members and two alternates on the committee as follows:
- Housing Authority Director
- Town Planner
- Task Force representative
- Representative from the Disabilities Commission
- Director of Community Development
- Four at-large members
- Two alternates
Both committees voted unanimously to forward the recommendation to the Select Board to merge the two committees, adopt the proposed mission statement and accept the proposed slate of members for the committee.
The next meeting will be held July 15.
This report was written by observers Julie Matuschak and Bonnie Grenier
