Santos Steps Down as Housing Authority Director

Natick Housing Authority executive director Edward Santos' resignation will take effect on Nov. 30.

Natick Housing Authority executive director Edward Santos has submitted his official letter of resignation, according to the NHA Board of Commissioners. On Nov. 30, assistant director Eileen Merritt will take over as interim director, should she accept the board's offer. Merritt, who has acted in Santos' absence since he reportedly left work early on Sept. 8, said she will discuss the offer more with the board in a couple of weeks. The board specified that the interim director would serve for a period no longer than six months or until a new executive director is chosen. Board chairman Gina Govoni said the authority owes it to the NHA and to the town to have a broad search for a new leader, but said Merritt's current position would neither…

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NHA Plans to Turn Over 40 Units, Earn $777,000

The Natick Housing Authority is submitting its corrective action plan to DHCD to turn around units and get the organization back in the black.

By April 2012, the Natick Housing Authority plans to have 40 housing units turned over for new tenants and to earn $777,000 in net income in three years, according to a corrective active plan to be submitted to the state Department of Housing and Community Development. The NHA Board of Commissioners studied the plan produced by NHA assistant director Eileen Merritt at a meeting Monday night. DHCD recently mandated that executive director Ed Santos submit a plan to turn around the authority, which is $480,000 in debt. Santos did not attend the board meeting Monday night, nor had he returned to work since Sept. 8 when he left early, according to NHA attorney James Wood, who said Santos is still being paid as director. DHCD originally set the…

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Town Posts Sept. 26 Housing Authority Agenda

The Natick Housing Authority will meet at Coolidge Gardens at 4 Cottage St. at 6:30 p.m.

6:30 PM         Meeting Opens 6:30 PM         NHA Work & Business Session 4 (200 -1) roof replacements

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Letter to the Editor

Letter: CGTO Founder Says Management to Blame for NHA Woes

Founding president of the Cedar Garden Tenants Association, George Ross, shares his thoughts on the current state of the Natick Housing Authority in this letter to the editor.

For seven years I resided at Cedar Gardens. During that time I helped organize the tenants so that there might be a way for us to get the many problems we were having addressed properly. Under the laws and regulations of the Commonwealth, we established the Cedar Gardens Tenant Organization (CGTO) and developed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) together with the NHA. The MOU was signed by the Executive Director, the NHA Board of Directors, and the CGTO. It was later accepted as valid and binding by the DHCD. Now the tools to achieve effective cooperation between the NHA and the residents were available for use. In my opinion, the basic reason public housing has not improved in Natick is the lack of effective management. With effective …

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Dispatches

Housing Authority Has $350,000 in Debt

The state Department of Housing and Community Development has given director of the Natick Housing Authority, Ed Santos, three weeks to make a plan to pull the authority out of major debt.

Urgency has increased over the Natick Housing Authority’s growing debt, which has reached $350,000, according to Jill Fenton, an independent fee accountant. According to Fenton, who periodically examines the organization’s financial situation, the authority has been spending money it does not have for the past four years. The NHA board of commissioners showed their frustrations at a meeting Wednesday night, sharing that they were not aware of the severity of the situation. In an Aug. 22 letter to Edward Santos, executive director of the NHA, the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development expressed major concerns over the authority’s financial situation and “serious decline in the past three years in the overall …

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