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Essex Housing Commission debates meeting frequency and member attendance after cancelled May meeting
Summary
Commission member Lois criticized the cancellation of the May meeting as disrespectful to the public and urged more time to address housing issues; other members cautioned that more meetings could exclude working volunteers and suggested process changes (working groups, evening options, liaison coordination).
The Essex Housing Commission spent a portion of its June 2 meeting debating how often it should meet and how to balance member availability with the commission’s workload.
Member Lois said she was “miffed” that the May meeting was cancelled without rescheduling and argued skipping meetings deprives the community of the commission’s work: "To miss a meeting...is to deprive the community of the activity the community has a right to expect," she said, urging the commission to consider meeting more frequently and to hold members accountable for public service commitments.
Other commissioners cautioned that stricter schedules could exclude volunteers who work full time. Noah noted that many potential members cannot step away during weekday daytime meetings and warned that moving meetings or increasing frequency could lose valuable perspectives. The group discussed practical options, including evening meetings (while noting state rules require a physical meeting location), working groups for project work outside full meetings, and recruiting additional members to expand capacity.
Georgia introduced herself as the planning commission liaison to the housing commission and offered to act as a resource on regulatory tools and to communicate between commissions. The commission set the next meeting for July 7 at 12:15 p.m. and asked members to suggest recruitment strategies for open seats.
The discussion concluded without a formal policy change on meeting frequency; members agreed to revisit scheduling and to pursue working groups and liaison coordination as ways to handle expanded workloads.
