Dear Editor,

At the August 11 meeting of the Mattapoisett Housing Authority, Mr. McCullough took over the meeting immediately and put forth a great deal of information. Despite this, there are still some issues that need clarifying.

1. "Let's move forward now," said Ms. Sousa. This is the Louise Sousa, Executive Director of the MHA, who could not explain to me why a tall healthy shade tree next to my unit was chopped down even though she watched as the maintenance man hacked at the branches. Ms. Sousa promised to get back to me. I am still waiting for an answer.

2. Louise Sousa blamed the "state" and "Boston" for ordering the sliding glass doors bolted shut from the outside. When tenants questioned Sousa at the June 9 meeting as to who in "Boston," she replied "I don't remember. I don't know. I can check in the office. It was done as an experiment."

In a surprise move two months later, Mr. McCullough revealed that the maintenance man "took it upon himself to bolt the sliding glass doors shut." Incredible! So, why did the executive director blame "Boston" and the "state" at the June 9 meeting? Why didn't Ms. Sousa give tenants a candid answer? Is this an executive director that can be trusted and depended on to do the right thing, make the right decisions and give truthful, straightforward answers?

Since the impudent Board of Commissioners will not hold anyone accountable and responsible for bolting the doors shut from the outside, this now affords the executive director and maintenance man a green light to do whatever they want while undistinguished housing authority board members sit on their hands waiting to sweep other indiscretions under the proverbial rug. Someone needs to step in and hold people responsible for wrongdoing and others must be voted out.

3. Mr. McCullough said that his feeling was that tenant safety was the first priority and that sliders should remain closed, except in the event of an emergency. He went on to say, "We buzz people in and out of the buildings...yet the sliders are open for anyone to walk in...it doesn't make sense." If it doesn't make sense for Mr. McCullough and "safety was the first priority," then, the Board of Commissioners needs to explain why they plan to begin reconfiguring the building's second floor sliders first and not begin the reconfiguration process with the first floor. I think intruders are prudent and practical enough that they will not risk life and limb by climbing up the exterior shingles and enter through the second floor sliders. That the reconfiguration of the building's exterior is being done for "safety" stretches credulity. Many believe reconfiguring the second floor first makes it not a safety issue, but a retribution issue, a pretext to punish the courageous critics who live on the second floor and who sounded the alarm regarding sliders being bolted from the outside.

4. While on the subject of "safety" being the first priority, I urge Mr. McCullough to ensure that all second floor tenants have a rear stairway exit from their units to the outside. At the moment, only unit #31 has a set of rear stairs leading directly out of their unit and to safety. A second exit out of the apartment should be a priority if the board is sincere about placing "safety" first. Please explain why only one "special" unit has a rear stairway leading to "safety."

5. Mr. James Marathas, Director of Facilities management from DHCD, said that the door handles on the sliding glass doors would be removed so that the doors would become glass panels. How does this differ from bolting the doors shut from the outside? Please explain how one would open such a sliding door in an emergency. The manufacturer's purpose of providing sliding glass doors was for ventilation and egress; any tempering with the glass door compromises its intended purpose as well as the manufacturer's design. These doors have provided fresh air and sunshine for 30 years. Sunshine is the best disinfectant for mold spores.

6. The suspected cause of the mold was that the facility was built upon damp, wet ground. My understanding is that water seeped through cracks in the concrete slab floor of individual units with rugs acting as wicks in first floor units. The hallways are concrete and rug free; however, there is a section of trap rock along the exterior wall of the first floor units that becomes moist after rainfall.

7. Finally, a ruling that plants could no longer be kept in hallways has never been enforced. There is a replicated Costa Rican rainforest in the facility's west end near the executive director's office that thrives on perpetual care: spraying, misting and watering.

In conclusion, it is highly unlikely that intruders will enter through the second level glass sliders, so I suggest the second floor doors be kept open to let in fresh air and sunshine, both mold inhibitors, and that plants be removed as they are water intensive mold producers.

Roberta Tripp

Mattapoisett