We Need You: MassLandlords’ Democratic Governance By and For Members

MassLandlords’ mission is to create better rental housing by helping prospective, new, and current owners run profitable, compliant, quality businesses. Unlike a tenant non-profit, which relies on government grants and private charity, we are entirely funded by members who find our services valuable. And unlike prior attempts at organizing landlords across the state, which in various ways have risen and fallen with the force of individual personalities, MassLandlords’ paid staff support robust democratic governance.

Two Kinds of Voting

MassLandlords is steered by two formal kinds of voting.

The first election is for our Directors. Each year in December, a Director must step down. They can run again in subsequent years, but they cannot serve consecutive terms. This means each year, we have a chance to put a new perspective into the highest level of association governance. We use score voting (highest average score wins) instead of a plurality (most votes win). This diminishes the impact of polarization and produces candidates that are acceptable to the most members.

The second election is for our policy priorities. On an ongoing basis, we can log into our site or submit a policy priorities survey over paper to say which policy reforms we want, and which we don’t. Here again we use score voting to determine consensus on proposals. A proposal with a wide range of scores has little consensus, so it would have to be reworded and re-voted before the association could take action in favor or opposed. A proposal with a narrow range of score has consensus, and we can take action on the proposal and direct the resources of the members accordingly.

Our Current Board of Directors

Rich Merlino, whose term expires Dec 31, 2022, has been the MassLandlords Worcester event emcee since October 2015. Since he started volunteering, event attendance has increased from 64 to 83 per month, and the average feedback card score has increased from 67% positive to 91%. Rich is extremely busy as a moderately large landlord in his own right. He has experience managing a team of on-site and remote employees. Rich’s sense of humor, strong sense of legal compliance, and general business savvy make him a great addition to the Board of Directors.

Russell Sabadosa, whose term expires Dec 31, 2021, has been a landlord since 1993 and is currently managing over 50 units. He has been an active member of local and statewide landlord organizations serving as board member, president of local and regional VP of MRHA. Russell is also a Realtor serving on local and statewide board of directors and public policy committees. Russell holds an MBA degree and is a retired tenured college professor, former IT director and aerospace engineer. Russell is the owner operator of Premier Choice Realty, Inc. in East Longmeadow, MA specializing in residential and commercial sales and residential rentals.

Pietro Curini, whose term expires Dec 31, 2020, has 18 years in the corporate business space and 15 years in management. He has been a member in good standing of MassLandlords Worcester and the Digital group for 9+ years. He is currently a small property owner in Millbury (2 units). In addition to MassLandlords, he is currently a 10+ year member of the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association. He regularly volunteers for children outreach programs to get kids excited about the outdoors and coastal cleanup and preservation initiatives to protect our coastlines for everyone. Pietro served on the Worcester Property Owners board as a volunteer from 2009 to 2012 and put in place our first social media and IT processes. These would eventually become MassLandlords.

Joyce Nierodzinski, whose term expires Dec 31, 2019, has been a WPOA member for many years and has been participating in public policy grassroots operations for many years, as well, including Candidates’ Night and Day on the Hill. She and her husband Matt own and manage their own properties. Joyce is very busy with her children and yet has remained a meaningful contributor to many community causes, some of which raised significant funding, in addition to MassLandlords.

Yvonne DiBenedetto, whose term expires Dec 31, 2018, is a Babson Graduate with a degree in finance, economics, and entrepreneurship. She has 14 years’ experience as a landlord, over nine years of experience in financial services, and experience in consulting and automotive. Yvonne is a great local networker and a fount of knowledge about home improvement, renter negotiations, and technology.
Sadly we will lose Yvonne to our version of term limits at the end of this year. Will you step up to carry her work forward?

Reach Out to Us

Each region where MassLandlords members meet has a local volunteer board. There are volunteer jobs to do! You can get involved at one of these local boards, which typically meet over dinner in a small group. The local boards may be by appointment or may be by local decision.

You can also run for state-wide director yourself. But remember it’s a state-wide race! You will need to prepare a biography detailing what you can bring to the Board and what is your vision of MassLandlords in five years.

The Good Neighbor Award

One last thing we vote on in December, which is mostly just for community-building, is recognizing a non-member’s efforts to advance property rights or the quality of rental housing in Massachusetts. Last year’s winner was Attorney Stuart Schrier of Dorchester for his testimony at the Just Cause Eviction Hearing in Boston, March 2017, which identified a new and compelling legal objection to just cause eviction rent control. That act was ultimately defeated, based in part on that testimony. Prior winners include Representative Walsh for his work on rent escrow and Jamie Williamson for her effort to teach owners and managers, but we have also nominated firefighters, inspectors, and many others in many roles.

The Good Neighbor Award is a fun way to bring recognition to a friend or colleague. All nominees no matter whether or not they win a state-wide vote will receive a personal letter of thanks from the Executive Director on behalf of the association, and if possible, we will address a second letter to their boss so they get a raise (at least, we’ll say they deserve it!).

The Board of Directors

Submit nominees for Good Neighbor or Board of Directors by emailing hello@masslandlords.net. Members in good standing can learn more about our bylaws and voting at MassLandlords.net/governance, or by talking to a blue ribbonholder at any event.