SWAMPSCOTT ― Naomi Dreeben, a board member of the town’s Housing Authority, announced her resignation on Monday via a letter to the editor sent to the Item.
“During my one-and-a-half-year tenure on this board, I have pressed for a full discussion of accessibility for all, and long-term planning as a regular meeting agenda item,” Dreeben said in her letter. “Unfortunately, the board leadership has continued to ignore the need for such a substantive discussion. There is no sense of urgency to rectify this major problem, and discussion of the issue has not even been put on the table.”
Dreeben’s main point of contention against the Housing Authority was its lack of steps taken to address accessibility and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance, particularly with regard to affordable senior housing.
“As of August 2021, there were more than 2,500 applicants for elder/handicap housing units in Swampscott, many of whom cannot climb stairs. Since 1991, the Americans with Disabilities Act has required new construction and renovations to have elevators in such housing,” the letter continued, going on to add that the Housing Authority passed up on a $50,000 feasibility study grant that reportedly could have paved the way for $15 million in state building funds to address the issue.
Dreeben’s public resignation preceded a scheduled Select Board meeting held Tuesday night. Though there were no Housing Authority items on the agenda, board members took time to discuss the issues Dreeben brought to light.
“I am saddened by her departure, but I don’t blame her,” said Select Board Chair Peter Spellios, who read Dreeben’s letter aloud at the meeting.
The board ultimately decided to reach out to the Housing Authority, and also to bring up the authority as a formal discussion point in an upcoming meeting.
Don Hause, a member of the Select Board, said that he knew how excited Dreeben had been to be elected to the Housing Authority a year and a half ago. He said that he had hoped to see some action taken by the board ― with Dreeben as a part of it. Now that she has resigned, he said, he was extremely concerned about the board’s future.
“This board’s lack of action is inexcusable and needs to be changed,” Hause said. “If anyone on the board is listening to this, I encourage them to reach out to us in a partnership and let’s get some things done here because it is long overdue.”
At the end of the discussion, Spellios decided to reach out to state agencies like the Department of Housing and Community Development in addition to opening communication with the Housing Authority.
“There is a much more robust conversation to have,” Spellios said. “It may be uncomfortable, but it has to happen.”
Dreeben, who was present at Tuesday night’s Select Board meeting, maintained her convictions after the discussion ended.
“Currently, it doesn’t do what I thought it should be doing,” Deebren said in an interview. “(The Housing Authority is) not welcoming new ideas and they did not welcome my articulation of my thoughts, in terms of something different we should do.”
