Meet The Candidates For Newton’s Affordable Housing Trust

NEWTON, MA — Mayor Ruthanne Fuller said Thursday she is ready to submit her recommendations for members of Newton’s Affordable Housing Trust to the City Council for review and approval.

The mission of Newton's Affordable Housing Trust will be to preserve existing affordable housing units and create new ones that are affordable to low and moderate income households.

"Over the last two and a half months, we received applications from an impressive pool of residents,” said Fuller in a community update. "I am grateful for the amount of interest we received for these four Trustee positions and I want to thank everyone who took the time to submit an application and to interview for such an important volunteer role within our community."

The city's Affordable Housing Trust will appoint seven members to its Board of Trustees, which will include the Mayor, City Councilor Alicia Bowman, Community Preservation Committee representative Judy Weber, and four residents with expertise in affordable housing development. A Planning Department staff member will also assist in administering the trust.

"We believe that the new Trustees will be appointed in time to begin holding meetings in May,” said Fuller. "With the pandemic further highlighting the region’s housing crisis, the Trust is convening at a critical moment.”

The funding for the Trust will come from an initial allotment of approximately $1.6 million, 35 percent of the Community Preservation Committee’s annual budget, and may include additional funds from the city's Inclusionary Zoning Fund as projects pay into that account.

Here are the mayor’s picks for Trustee candidates:

Tamirirashe (Tami) Gambiza – Tami is a Certified Public Accountant with extensive experience in auditing and reviewing affordable housing projects for compliance, including federal housing programs. Tami is also a board member of the Commonwealth Land Trust which owns and manages affordable and supportive housing.

Ann Houston – Ann has forty years of experience in affordable housing as a developer, lender and partner to local communities. She is the former president of Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA) which encourages the production and preservation of housing that is affordable to low and moderate income families and individuals.

Jason Korb – Jason is an experienced affordable housing developer at Capstone Communities. He has worked closely with the affordable housing trust in Cambridge and his projects have included complicated layering of public and private subsidies.

Peter Sargent – Peter has deep experience in affordable housing financing in a variety of roles, including as a Director of Capital Development at the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation. In addition, he is a former member and chair of Newton’s Community Preservation Committee.