Hey, there! Log in / Register
Two BHA employees punished for pointing out Boston is less than perfect
By adamg on Thu, 09/27/2018 - 12:38pm
CommonWealth ponders the case of the two Boston Housing Authority employees responsible for a letter to some of its residents about a program that lets them move out of town, a letter that included possible reasons for why they might want to move - crime and bad schools.
The flier may not have conveyed the message the city wants to send. But that’s not the same as saying it said anything that wasn’t true.
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Yes I Did Receive That Letter too.
Why Would They Send Something That is Not going to be True ?
The argument would be
City employees should not be saying, as part of their official duties, that the city is a shithole. I would disagree with the city being a shithole. Others might agree. Section 8 voucher holders should be made aware of the fact that they can use the vouchers outside of the city, which would open up their housing choices overall (within the limits of the program, of course.) There is a definite upside of making sure that Section 8 voucher holders are not all concentrated in certain area, and perhaps some with vouchers might indeed want to raise their kids outside of the city.
That said, as a taxpayer and resident, I don't like city employees badmouthing the city.
Yes I Do Agree With You, But
Yes I Do Agree With You, But We Have to Look At it In Two Ways Some Families Have Their Family in The city & Other In The North shore or either In the South Shore , Or More Important Outside The State , Since Im a Voucher Holder I Really Dont Give 2 F*** Where i Live , What Most Important To Me Is Just Giving My 2 Kids A Roof To Sleep On & Come EveryDay to a Place
that Would Call HOME , Now For Violence EveryWhere Is Violence , Just Dont Mess Around With The People That Lives around You & Thats It.
I Love The City But Damn They Make it See That is a Bad Place to Live & School Are Bad Like No Walsh Should do Something About it , That My Opinion .
That said, as a taxpayer and
Much better to have them engaging in marketing than telling the truth. Yeah that's definitely what I want my tax dollars used for.
I want them to tell the truth
And since the like the city so much they work for it, I think we all know the truth is that one can raise a child in Boston safely and successfully.
Perhaps in the suburb you live the officials go on about how much the town sucks and all the townsfolk agrees, but in Boston we have something called pride. If these employees have no pride in the city, they should work somewhere else.
That's naive
Working for the city is a job, like any other. It's silly to assume people have to like the city in order to take a job here.
I mean, you really think all those cops who live in Weymouth, etc... are huge fans of liberal Boston for example? Get real - it's a juicy paycheck to people like that. They don't give a damn about the city.
The difference is
In this case, they were acting as employees.
For the few of you who remember when Menino decided to crack down on residency, don’t forget that one of the motivators was a woman in Dorchester being told by some BPD officers that if she couldn’t handle the crime in her neighborhood, she should move.
I posted this yesterday but it disappeared...
BHA employees are NOT city employees. They are special municipal employees. They are not paid by the city, are not under the city's management and do not have to live in the city.
The BHA is a municipal agency that operates independently of city and town government.
https://www.mass.gov/advisory/advisory-84-02-municipal-districts-and-aut...
And has anyone who is against this actually read the letter/flier? Or are we just jumping to conclusions based on a Herald article?
But here's the thing
They are representing the city regardless. Were the Housing Authority a regional effort, I'd still be a little bit chagrined that they are talking down one of the municipalities in the region. Would you like it if the housing authority in your town told people that they could move to towns with less crime and better schools and still use their voucher?
I am basing my opinion on what appeared in CommonWealth, which is actually a notch above the Globe in reporting things.
Bah humbug
That may be all true and dandy for some however let Section 8 vouchers holder's also know if you do move out of town and at any prank the ring on the decides they don't want to honor your voucher you're stuck out of the city and out of support.
Stay where you're living don't move hold it down another sneaky way to promote gentrification.
Was it on BHA letterhead?
Or did it seem like it was sent by the BHA? If so that's definitely bad. We don't want rogue employees sending out communications that look to be official, when they are not.
Yes It Had BHA LetterHead, I
Yes It Had BHA LetterHead, I Got The Letter , I Found It Weird , But You Know What i sayed Dont Care Why Would i want to Move i Feel Comfortable were im at.
Most at BHA are hired...
Because of their outstanding personal and professional skill sets so this is quite a bruise for the “Authority.”
Irony be overrated alas: The letter was prob written by 1 of Marty’s nephews and the help of let’s say, an AA Pal. Why not..
That said, there will be no punishment: 1 will quietly and humbly, go to the T and the one capable of typing the letter will of course, get to dawn a suit and head directly to the BRA (or whatever you wanna call it).
Where's a copy of the full letter?
The only excerpt of the letter I've seen is: