councils, but the status of the council at Washington Elms and Newtowne Court isnt clear. Johnston said CHA enlisted the nearby Margaret Fuller House, a longtime community center, to hold regular meetings with tenants without staff from the authority, partly in hope of organizing a tenant council there.
We brought them into [the two developments] to help build up a community and counteract residents fear of complaining to authority staff, Johnston said of the Margaret Fuller House. CHA also hoped to form a new tenant council at Washington Elms and Newtowne Court, he said.
Though Johnston said the meetings at Margaret Fuller didnt include CHA employees, he provided a copy of a report on the May meeting that referred to local managers who jumped in with explanations when residents complained that they were fined for leaving clutter in hallways. The report began on