“It seems patronizing,” Belchertown Selectman Ken Elstein said, to not have a public housing tenant on the authority’s board of directors.
Belchertown selectmen Ken Elstein and Ron Aponte during the August 12, 2013 meeting
BELCHERTOWN – Three candidates vying for two seats on the Belchertown Housing Authority prompted spirited discussion about whether a public housing tenant should serve on that panel.
Selectmen met jointly with the housing authority this month to make a decision.
Following an hour of interviews, discussion and statements, the two boards arrived at a less than unanimous decision.
Appointed were George Dion, who received 6 votes, and Sandra Haigh with 5.
Matt Charette, who is a tenant of the housing authority, received 3 votes and was not chosen.
Selectman Ken Elstein was Charette’s most vocal supporter during deliberations.
“It seems patronizing,” Elstein said, to not have a public housing tenant on the authority’s board of directors.
“Think about the school committee that did not have a parent on it,” Elstein said. The selectman said it would be unthinkable for the board of assessors to not have a property owner filling at least one of the seats.
Charette, who is chairman of the town’s Housing Needs and Assessment Committee, obtained a written ruling from the state ethics commission that said it would be OK for him to also serve on the housing authority.
Selectman Ron Aponte lauded Charette’s efforts bringing attention to maintenance problems at the housing authority-managed property, but did not vote for him.
During the meeting housing authority member Martina Robinson voted for Charette, while fellow authority member Chantel Mallalieu did not.
The appointments of Dion and Haigh are in effect until the next town election in 2014.