HoNe launches with ambitious goal for community engagement
The Housing Needham Advisory Group (HoNe) held its initial meeting last Thursday and set the ambitious goal of getting the entire Needham community engaged in the work required by the MBTA Communities Law.
The meeting included discussion on the status of housing in Needham, an overview of the MBTA Communities Law and the plan for a robust public engagement process.
Karen Sunnarborg, housing specialist in the town planning department, presented a vivid example of the intense demand for affordable rental housing in Needham. She said the four affordable units recently available at 1180 Great Plain Ave. attracted 483 applications, 157 from Needham residents or workers.
HoNe will hold its first community workshop on Nov. 9. There will be additional workshops in January and March before the group submits recommendations that reflect community input to the Planning Board for review.
“The community voice needs to be heard,” said Amy Haelsen, director of communications and community engagement.
“This is a very lofty goal, but I would love it if there’s never one person in Needham who says, ‘I had no idea what was going on. I never heard of it.’ We are going to make every effort to ensure that everybody knows what HoNe is all about.”
Needham hires new head of HR
Tatiana Swanson has been promoted to director of human resources replacing Chuck Murphy-Romboletti, who last month accepted a position as South Hadley’s assistant town administrator/human resources director. A town employee since 2012, Swanson had previously served as assistant director of human resources since July 2021.
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