Letter from the Executive Director for May 2016

April was a month we will soon forget, but the groundwork we laid should serve us long into the future.

The month began with a satire we wrote and published as an April Fool’s joke. We mocked City Life/La Vida Urbana and their handling of the Just Cause Eviction proposal heard at Boston City Hall in March.

We tweeted the satire at all of them. We haven’t heard from any of them. Perhaps in an alternate universe they read it and then approached us to call a truce.

Political satire has a wonderful way of cutting through the noise to make a point. We will use this literary form in the future where possible.

Administratively, the one-click payment system we started in March has been a resounding success. In Worcester for the Housing Court event we had 112 prepayments. Our normal prepayments average 40. Enormous gratitude goes to the Housing Court staff who headlined the event, our local team for bringing it together, and our local members for turning out in such numbers. We will continue the one-click system for all our events state-wide.

Typically during the summer, MassLandlords holds a picnic or a barbecue. We have struggled to find a place simultaneously nice enough and cheap enough to satisfy the wide spectrum of membership interests. We’ve decided not to hold a picnic this year. Our lack of official picnic organization, however, doesn’t prohibit any one of us from calling a local get-together over the message boards.

I’m delighted to announce a new addition to the marketing team. Susan Manning joins us as our new Manager of Communications and Social Media. Susan has a crisp writing style, an interest in housing journalism, and deep experience with the high-tech tools we use to run MassLandlords efficiently. You will start to see Susan take over event reminders for me, as well as contribute articles, website updates, and many other services.

Susan’s hiring is a great opportunity to highlight the effort and care that goes into MassLandlords from a variety of volunteers and staff state-wide. What we’re doing takes a lot of effort, and we can all be grateful that we have been able to attract so many to help us in our mission.

We help landlords. We also advocate for better laws. Owners, managers, and service providers: tell your friends about us. We’re on to great things.

Sincerely,
Doug Quattrochi
Executive Director
C: 617-285-7255