Letter from the Executive Director for January 2017

Recap of 2016 and goals for 2017.

Last month I reviewed in detail the progress we made toward 2016’s goals. This month we’ll recap that progress and set new goals for 2017.

In 2016 we launched our “crash course”, opened our Cambridge office, and started events at a new Charles River chapter centered around 128 and I-90. We attended our partner group events in Southern Worcester County and MetroWest each month, integrated the Rental Housing Association of Greater Springfield, and did a large amount of work behind-the-scenes to develop our staff and technology infrastructure.

In 2017, we will continue our twin goals of economically valuable services and legislatively effective size. Probably you will agree that we now have a better way to describe these goals: help owners rent their property and build the foundation for advocacy.

Our first goal is helping owners rent their property. This means offering services that we all will pay for and will benefit from. In broad strokes, there are three key areas we need to perfect. In the first quarter of this year we will roll out a major update to our rental forms. Unlike some other forms you may find online, these are MA-compliant and intended to be read and understood by lay people, including our tenants. We also have high hopes for a message board revamp and a new and improved service provider directory. There are also some other services in various stages of development.

Our second goal is building the foundation for advocacy. In my mind, this means going from five monthly event locations (Springfield, Sturbridge, Worcester, Marlborough, Waltham) to nine (likely locations: Holyoke, Fitchburg, Cambridge, and North Shore). In some cases we will roll our own, in others we will partner with existing local groups. If successful, it is possible we will grow from 1,298 members as of January 1 to 1,726 members by year end. This is not a forecast but a stretch goal.

In 2017 we’ll add a third goal: actually advocate for better policy. We must not forget the importance of a good foundation, but as we saw in late 2016, our opinion is already demanded by various media outlets. We were featured on a Freakonomics podcast, a Channel 5 WCVB news story, and two WGBH Greater Boston panels. We will use these platforms and others to make meaningful contributions to public discussion when asked. We have hired a very part time Legislative Affairs Counsel and launched a Property Rights Supporter fund to get started.

I am looking forward enormously to 2017. It will be another year of fast growth. The challenge for us will be continuing to develop our behind-the-scenes infrastructure (staff, technology, process) in a smooth, bootstrapped arc from where we are to the first professionally staffed trade association for property owners in Massachusetts. Thank you for your support in this exciting and challenging work.

Sincerely,
Doug Quattrochi

617-285-7255