Local housing officials oppose Patrick plan

BOSTON (WWLP) - A battle is brewing over power and control over state public housing, and local groups are opposing Governor Deval Patrick’s plan to consolidate them.

Patrick has proposed to overhaul management and oversight of public housing by absorbing the state's roughly 240 local housing authorities into six regional authorities.

Several local housing officials came to the State House on Monday to oppose the governor's plan.  They say it will delay home repairs, eliminate their jobs, and complicate public housing for folks living in more remote areas of the state.

“We're against the governor's proposal,” East Longmeadow Housing Authority Commissioner Joseph D’Ascoli said. “You could possibly house people from the Cape, Boston-area, or wherever throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts before you can house a person from East Longmeadow.”

The Patrick administration says many of those claims are unfounded. Administration officals say that the Governor's reforms will make housing authorities more professional, reduce waste, and improve services.

“There are many people in favor of the Governor's proposal,” Undersecretary of Housing and Community Development Aaron Gornstein said. “Services to the tenants will be improved, there's going to be on-site property managers with a strong local presence.”

The reforms come in the aftermath of the Chelsea Housing Authority scandal, where a former director with ties to the Patrick administration was caught taking advantage of his position by arranging a $360,000 annual salary for himself.