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Ed Augustus, Secretary of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, speaks to attendees at the session. (photo: NewTV)
Newton City Hall hosted the state’s first Fair Housing listening session on November 6, moved at the last minute to the City Council Chambers as the building prepared to host former Mayor Setti Warren’s wake later that afternoon.
“It’s an unusually strange day in our city,” said Mayor Ruthanne Fuller. “I am very grateful, though, that we’ve been given the privilege of hosting the state’s first listening session on fair housing.”
Fairer housing
Fuller highlighted ongoing projects such as the West Newton Armory redevelopment – a former state property sold to Newton for $1 – now being transformed into 100% affordable housing in partnership with Metro West Collaborative Development.
Massachusetts Housing Secretary Ed Augustus said the Commonwealth continues to face serious housing challenges, calling the Newton event the first of 12 statewide sessions that will guide the new Office of Fair Housing.
“As we confront the housing shortage, it’s essential that we lead with fair housing practices, especially as the federal government pulls back from their commitment to fair housing in general,” Augustus said.
The Office of Fair Housing and its accompanying Fair Housing Trust Fund were created through the Affordable Homes Act to expand the state’s housing equity work. But since their inception just over a year ago, Augustus said he could not have foreseen the federal government turning “so sharply away” from fair-housing enforcement.
He also praised Newton’s progress on housing, noting it was one of the first communities to meet the requirements of the MBTA Communities Act and has now surpassed the state’s 10 percent affordable-housing benchmark.
Augustus said the Trump administration…
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