New CHA Director Promises End to Tenants' Maltreatment

Lewis H. Spence '69, new Cambridge Housing Authority (CHA) executive director, said yesterday he will work with the CHA's board and Cambridge tenants to order his administration's priorities and save housing problems.

Spence, confirmed by the CHA board on December 4, said that solving the central problem in housing--the maltreatment of tenants by authorities--is first on his priority list.

Bureaucracy In Action

"When the bureaucracy fails to meet with the tenants' needs, maltreatment occurs," Spence said. He said he plans to use consultations of both the CHA board and Cambridge tenants to end the problem.

Spence won't officially take office until February 1, because of details he must take care of at his law firm.

Spence, who has been a Cambridge resident since 1968, said, "I have a personal and institutional concern in housing for low income people in Cambridge."

University students can pay more than the low and some of the middle income tenants and this difference is causing these tenants to leave Cambridge, Spence said. He proposed more low and middle income housing to alleviate the problem.

One of Spence's secondary goals is securing all available state and federal funds for the CHA. "Any job in public housing is a challenge as there are not enough public funds available," Spence said.

Oversees Transition

Spence will oversee the CHA's transition from an outside legal counsel to its own permanent one. He said having the "full time resources would be cheaper and more efficient."

Spence said the "sad irony of public housing is that there are long waiting lists while substantial vacancies exist." He said, "The projects' designs are sometimes so undesirable that people turn them down." Vacant apartments reduce the overall efficiency of the CHA and increase vandalism, Spence added.

Structural Problems

"Leaks in several of elderly people's apartments are structural problems which must be addressed by competent, technical people as soon as possible," Spence said.

As new executive director, Spence must recommend a replacement for the director of management who retired Wednesday night. Spence said that he "will move as quickly as possible to select a first rate person."

Spence said he wanted the job to be able to make a contribution to the Cambridge community in return for the many things he had gained from living in the area.