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NEEDHAM, MA - I met Barbara McDonald for the first time, two weeks ago, on a mid March Wednesday, in the community building on Chambers Street, during a regular coffee hour, hosted by Springwell, the healthcare contractor serving the tenants of the development.
I was passing the time with Dorina, the Secretary of the Linden Chambers Residents Association (LCRA) when the candidate for the position of Commissioner of the Needham Housing Authority (NHA) entered the social room with purpose.
She walked right in and introduced herself, to us, as running for the NHA position, to become one of the five board members. Getting to the point, she explained that she was there to see the site of the proposed, newly re-named "Linden Terrace" housing development, and to meet the residents in order to learn what the resident community had to say.
From Barbara's flyers and the conversation that ensued, it was evident that her strengths come from her business experience in contract management, client services, plus financial and property oversight, plus the enterprises she runs. One thing about business that many people fail to understand is that it requires honesty. Successful business people are not fakers or slackers. When money changes hands in a contract for goods and services, both parties have the responsibility to deliver on their commitments.
The NHA, however, in arranging for work and for goods, and in trying to manage its staff and oversee the many services required, for this elderly and disabled population, the NHA has simply fallen short. NHA has been highly aspirational, while failing to meet deadlines and expectations.
Years ago, when the Chambers Street buildings received new roofs, gutters, and insulation, the Executive Director, at the time, without a lot of construction experience, took an unreasonably low bid for the job. The contractor could not pay his employees. They walked, but the contractor did not, and the situation was resolved only with the aid of the state department of housing, now titled the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC,) which has three trouble-shooting divisions for management, finance, and construction.
In another instance, NHA hired a specialty contractor to upgrade the door locking, buzzer and intercom systems for the five buildings on Chambers Street. The workers presented a bill for work done on four of the five buildings. The NHA expected all five buildings to be completed, but that was not what the contract called for. They had to write another contract for the fifth building. This is an example of bungling ineptitude. The NHA needs a more serious practical person at the top. And that person is Barbara McDonald.
Another example of trouble in the projects was the partial installation of a surveillance camera system at Linden/Chambers, which was not really needed, in that there was no reported crime wave. In any case, the work was started years ago. Halfway through, the Director of Facilities got into a squabble with the contractor, and $50,000.- was withheld. And it was not the final balance due. The work stopped. $100-200,000.- had been spent. The NHA Director of Facilities overseeing the job, quit. One camera in the community room works. The new head of maintenance and the new Executive Director have no apparent active interest in completing the task.
I cannot imagine, from the way Barbara has presented herself and the interest she has shown in coming back to meet with the tenants, the neighbors across the street, and to walk the grounds that she would not be anything other than exactly what the Housing Authority needs.
If elected, her term of office would run from 2025 to 2030.
