When the League of Women Voters met last week for our annual meeting, recent developments regarding affordable housing in Harvard caught our interest (“Unique Rental Properties in Jeopardy,” Harvard Press, June 17).
The national League of Women Voters has a longstanding interest in the issue of affordable housing, promoting the entry of women into the mortgage credit market, opposing housing discrimination against families with children, and supporting the activities of nonprofit groups that provide the bulk of housing services for our poorest communities, to name just a few examples.
As LWV members and Harvard residents, we share these goals, and believe that it is in Harvard’s interest to at least maintain our current level of affordable housing, which is just under 5 percent, only halfway to the 10 percent state-mandated goal (the minimum allowable for our town to prevent developers from working outside Harvard’s bylaws).
Great Elms on Stow Road and The Inn on Fairbank Street are landmark properties, notable for their historical value and for the commitment they represent to diversity and openness in our community. The Harvard League of Women Voters would like to help keep these properties and their mission intact. We invite other organizations in town and residents at large to join with us, and urge you to start by letting the Municipal Affordable Housing Trust know of your interest and concern.
Maria Kaufmann
President, Harvard League of Women Voters
