I have four major goals:

• Provide a safer environment for NHA tenants. Tenants have recently experienced icy sidewalks, break-ins and assaults.

• Make the Authority more responsive to tenant concerns. Tenants frequently complain that response to their reports of problems is often slow, and sometimes non-existent.

• Maximize the number of units available and suitable for occupancy. Rents are the major source of Authority income, and unoccupied units produce none. A recent State audit charged that failure to rehab units in a timely fashion resulted in up to $276,000 of lost rental income over a 27-month period.

• Apply for State, Federal and foundation grants to augment rental income. Even a small amount of additional funding would help in bringing currently unoccupied units up to rental condition.

There are other current problems that I’d work to correct, including:

• Executive Director’s failure to inform the Board of security problems in a timely fashion.
• Irregular communication with the Natick Police Department.
• Failure to file required reports on vacancies, financial irregularities.
• Use of the NHA credit card by the Executive Director for non-NHA purposes.
• Failure of Executive Director to cooperate with Town departments’ requests for information.
• Failure to correctly calculate PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) amounts due the Town.

VOTE FOR ERICA BALL FOR NATICK HOUSING AUTHORITY on TUESDAY, MARCH 30, 2010.