Resident Advisory Board 2024 Elections
The RAB seeks to have representatives from Family, and Elderly/Disabled Public Housing (including Mixed Finance) and Leased Housing / Section 8. BHA residents can nominate themselves and others. Elected RAB members are expected to: represent the interests of other residents, serve a term of 3 years, and attend monthly meetings.
Residents are invited to attend an information session for their respective program type, Family Public Housing, Elderly/Disabled Public Housing, and Leased Housing / Section 8. For residents in developments that are going or have gone through conversion to other forms of subsidy such as Mixed Finance redevelopment, for the purpose of RAB representation, should register how the development was treated historically whether as a Family or Elderly/Disabled P0ublic Housing development. For example, residents of Mission Main, Orchard Gardens, Washington Beech, Maverick, Old Colony, Orient Heights, Whittier St/Flat 9, Lenox-Camden and Franklin Hill should register under Family Public Housing; while residents of Heritage, Lower Mills, and Patricia White should register under Elderly/Disabled Public Housing.
Information Sessions will be held on the following dates:
Monday, August 19 at 6:00 pm - Family Public Housing/Mixed Finance Properties
Tuesday, August 20 at 6:00 pm - Leased Housing
Friday, August 23 at 11 am - Elderly/Disabled Public Housing
All BHA RAB Information Meetings and Elections will be held at the Bruce Bolling Municipal Building, 2300 Washington Street, 2nd floor, Roxbury, MA 02119.
Sign up for an info session and pre-register for the elections:: tinyurl.com/rabelectioninfo
If you have any questions about the RAB Info sessions or Elections, please call Simone Layne at 617-988-4021 or John Kane at 617-988-4107.
What is the Resident Advisory Board?
The BHA Resident Advisory Board (RAB) consists of Boston Housing Authority tenants (from Family and Elderly/Disabled Public Housing and Leased Housing/Section 8) who help the BHA by making recommendations regarding development and implementation of the BHA’s Annual and Five-Year Plans.
When and where does the RAB meet?
RAB members and BHA staff meet every month usually around a table but also virtually as needed and talk about important housing programs and policies.
Monthly meetings are held at Mildred Hailey Apartments 30 Bickford Street in Jamaica Plain (also possible to attend virtually) and usually last two (2) hours. The RAB meetings are good places for residents to advocate about issues that are important to them and to learn about housing issues at the city, state, and national levels.
What are the eligibility requirements to join the RAB?
To be eligible you must meet RAB requirements, including: be a BHA public housing or leased housing/Section 8 tenant; age 18 or older; participate in training and meetings; abide by the RAB bylaws. To see the full list of eligibility requirements, click here:
How many members are on the RAB?
There are up to 30 elected members with 10 from each of the three groups: 10 leased housing/Section 8; 10 family public housing; and 10 elderly/disabled public housing. Beyond the elected members, there are also up to 10 alternates for each group.
How do I join the RAB?
We are asking all residents to give a thought if they are interested in running to serve on the RAB or know someone else they would like to nominate to serve. We are also asking if you are a member of a recognized public housing task force/ local tenant organization (LTO) to have a meeting and decide who will be your three (3) delegates who will represent your development at the election. Download the Delegate forms by clicking on the link: Family LTO; Elderly/Disabled LTO. The delegates can be any resident from the development.
Nominations and Delegate forms can be submitted from August 1-28, 2024 to Massachusetts Union of Public Housing Tenants (MUPHT) at 617-825-9750 or info@massunion.org or Mass Union, 784 Washington St, Suite 504, Dorchester, MA 02124. It is the responsibility of the person submitting the nomination to ensure that it is received by the August 28, 2024 deadline.
Download the Nomination forms by clicking on the link: Nominate Yourself; Nominate Someone Else (must be a BHA resident from the same type of Housing Program willing to serve who meets all Eligibility Requirements, see above link)
How do the elections work?
Leased housing section 8 participants can nominate themselves and others and can also cast votes in person only at the leased housing section 8 election.
Public housing elderly/disabled residents and family residents can nominate themselves and others from their own program. However, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, wrote a regulation about public housing that only delegates of recognized task forces can vote in public housing elections and the RAB added to their bylaws that each recognized task force can only send up to three (3) delegates to the election who also can only cast a vote if they are there in person.
How often are elections held?
Elections are typically held every three years where residents elect other residents from their housing program so residents of elderly/disabled public housing developments elect elderly/disabled members; residents of family public housing developments elect family members; and leased housing/Section 8 participants elect leased housing/Section 8 members. RAB members elected in September 2024 would be expected to serve until approximately August 2027.
This year, the elections will be held on the following dates:
Family Election: Tuesday, September 3 at 6 pm
Leased Housing/Section 8 Election: Thursday, September 5 at 6 pm
Elderly/Disabled Election: Friday, September 6 at 11 am
All elections will be held at the Bruce Bolling Municipal Building, 2300 Washington Street, 2nd Floor, Roxbury, MA 02119.
Download the Election Forms below (translated documents expected availability by the end of July/early August)
RAB Information Session Flyer (double-sided) EN | SP | CH
RAB Election Eligibility Document EN | SP | CH
RAB Nomination Form - Self EN | SP | CH
RAB Nomination Form - Other EN | SP | CH
RAB Delegate Form - Family LTO (EN) | SP | CH
RAB Delegate Form - Elderly/Disabled LTO (EN) | SP | CH