Needham Housing Empties Community Room in Retaliatory Clean-up

- NEEDHAM, MA   The residents of the Linden/Chambers apartments had a Christmas party.  It was sometime in December 2022 in the 5 Chambers Street community.   There was coverage in the local newspaper and TV.  It was wonderful.  Everyone was happy.  We were there.  Playing in the band.   

By March, 2023, Steve Merritt, the most recent in the line of interim, temporary acting or permanent executive directors at the Needham Housing Authority (NHA) was proposing to shut the place down.

Steve Merritt's short term contracts (5-9 months each)  with NHA, at something like $500.- per week, could not be renewed, perpetually.  The state Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) advised against it.   NHA intends to bypass DHCD and keep Steve around, anyway, as a consultant.     

Mr. Merritt, known as Santa Claus (from the party), instigated and/or exacerbated several incidents with residents over his term of service here..   I don't know the connection, but these incidents precipitated a set of retaliatory proposals to limit and control residents' access to community space.

1)  Steve and George.   The scene is the community room and  includes a small crowd of tenants and guests.  Steve was trying to get the wi-fi and cable TV up and running - a useful endeavor since the media had been broken and unusable for over a month, while the staff was busy with the Christmas party.

Enter: George, a frisky mixed breed mutt that playfully jumped up on one of the couches.  Steve, already frustrated with the IT problem, started yelling at George, wagging his finger, and reaching for the dog's collar.  George jumped down and then sprang up onto the other couch.  George was playing.  Steve was venting his anger and frustration.   I was surprised.  This was a sure fire way to get a dogbite.

George's owner responded to the situation.  She said, "Steve, George doesn't understand what you're saying." 

If there's a dog policy anywhere, it might start like..

"Regarding  an active unleashed dog, DO NOT YELL at the dog.  Do not grab the dog.  Talk with the owner of the dog."  

Steve phoned George's owner, later, to apologize, but then proceeded to blame her for having a dog, when it was Steve, who mishandled the situation, who took the ordinary activity of a friendly dog and created an unpleasant incident out of nothing.

2) Steve and Mortimer.  

There was a NHA Commissioners Meeting, in January 2023  at the community room at 5 Chambers.   Mortimer, we'll call him, who everyone knows to be unpredictable, burst onto the scene.  A long table on the side of the wall sat the Commissioners and staffers.   The TV screen was on for the zoom part of the meeting.  I was the only audience member in the room.   Mortimer did not immediately realize a meeting was underway, but, he saw me and started taking.  I had his attention and shushed him.  Mortimer became quiet and moved off to the side.  The storm had passed.

That wasn't good enough for Steve, who stopped the meeting, to yell at Mortimer, which was exactly the wrong thing to do.   At that moment, Mortimer was not presenting a head on problem, but Steve was just a couple of  measures behind the beat and he, belatedly, seemed duty bound to react.  He had to do something about this egregious offense, so he said, loudly, "Mortimer!  There's meeting going on here!"

Thinking about it now, Steve was not the moderator nor the chair of the meeting.  So, Steve's role, as acting executive director, was to be the enforcer.  Oddly, he created a situation that blew up, by acting too forcefully himself.

Steve could have let it go, could have invited Mortimer to join the meeting, could have tried to make a joke, or to be a diplomat.  Instead, Steve paused the meeting, and made Mortimer the center of attention, and then proceded to yell at him.

Of course, predictably, Mortimer yelled right back, mimicking Steve's outburst, shouting, "I don't care about your meeting!  I live here!  I can use this place! I don't see any signs!"  ...and so on.

I ushered him outside.

3) Steve and Danny,

On the same evening of the above mentioned NHA Board meeting, Steve and a staffer at the end of the meeting were at the door and leaving the community building, when Danny, a tenant walked up the outside steps to the community room. 

Steve said and I quote, "Can I help you?  Our meeting is over. This building is closed."  

A conversation ensued, and Danny explained he was there to read.  Danny is a notorious night owl.  The doors are sometimes locked, but residents have keys.  People watch TV, read the bulletin board, and there's a library.    

The upshot of Steve Merritt's interactions with residents and apparent animosity toward some is that he proposed policies to the the NHA Board, to shut the community room down after 8PM and establish a key fob system such that access to the community room will be individually determined and controlled by NHA.

Steve is gone, sort of.  None of his his policy suggestions were picked up, but he did kill a spectacular lilac bush, in retribution. 

Cheryl Gosman is stepping in as the latest acting Director of Housing.  The final approval is with the state.  The NHA holds that Cheryl has sufficient and appropriate life experience for the position.  No one else interviewed for the job was in the final selection.

The clean-up that started with Steve Merritt continues with Cheryl Gosman and the confiscation of community office equipment, musical instruments, cabinets, rolling carts and other kitchen appliances.   Minimalism the new management philosophy is, in practice, boring.  Meetings are scheduled.