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Commenter alleges manager bypassed tenant-selection rules for Cambridge Housing Authority appointment
Summary
At public comment, James Williamson alleged the city manager did not follow statutory or established procedures for selecting a tenant representative to the Cambridge Housing Authority Board of Commissioners and said agenda items were withdrawn after objections.
James Williamson, who identified himself at the Oct. 6 meeting as a participant in the tenant-representation process, told the Cambridge City Council the city manager “violated the law” in how a tenant representative appointment to the Cambridge Housing Authority (CHA) Board of Commissioners was handled earlier this year.
Williamson said the manager failed to notify recognized tenant organizations within a required period and that the manager instead advertised that applicants should submit to the manager rather than to tenant organizations. He said the result was a reshuffling of applicants and the withdrawal of appointment items from the council agenda.
“Do the tenants in CHA have a right to choose their own representative or don’t we?” Williamson asked, and said the recognized citywide tenant organization—the Alliance of Cambridge Tenants—had not endorsed the names later submitted. He urged the council to follow the statutory process for tenant appointments described in public comment, which he said requires notification to tenant organizations and a 60-day period for organizations to submit candidate lists.
The transcript contains Williamson’s allegation and description of the process but does not include a formal council response or a staff explanation of the manager’s actions in the excerpt provided.
