The Easthampton Housing Authority’s new executive director is fairly new to the world of subsidized housing, but authority board members say she has the skills and managerial style to do the job well.
Jane Sakiewicz, 53, of South Hadley, started her new job supervising the city’s state-subsidized housing Oct. 15. The board chose her from 12 applicants because of her education, work experience and communication skills, said Housing Authority Board member Nancy Flavin.
“She has a great skill set to be our director,” Flavin said. “Because we’re such a small housing authority, we don’t have a big staff, so the whole responsibility is on her. She’s very capable.”
Sakiewicz has a master’s degree in business administration and worked as a paralegal before taking the job.
“I wanted something that would tie both those things together and also have more public contact,” Sakiewicz said. “This position does that, and I get to make a difference to people.”
So far, she has been learning the ropes, filling vacant apartments, going to court regarding evictions, and pursuing the many state-required certifications for the job. “She’s wasted no time in getting those certifications,” Flavin said.
Sakiewicz said her goals are to work on updating the authority’s policies and to find additional funds to complete capital improvement projects at Easthampton housing.
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Library fundraiser on tap
Supporters of Emily Williston Memorial Library’s plan to build a mobile laptop lab are hoping a raffle of 11 gift baskets will help reach their $15,000 goal.
The library’s youth department supervisor and Emily’s Friends of the Library member Jonathan Schmidt said the group aims to raise $7,500 to earn a matching grant from Easthampton Savings Bank. Library Director Kristi Chadwick has said she hopes to buy 10 to 12 laptops and accessories for $15,000.
“Having a laptop lab at the library will open up a world of new possibilities for us, including new outreach, programming, and educational opportunities,” Schmidt said in an email. It would allow library staff to offer computer tutorials at the Council on Aging Enrichment Center and elsewhere, Chadwick said.
To that end, the friends organized the raffle of themed gift baskets. The 11 baskets, each with a theme, include items from wine to a ukelele and gift certificates to local stores and restaurants.
Tickets, available at the library, are one for $2, three for $5, or seven for $10. Winners will be drawn Dec. 15, and one does not need to be present to win.
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Union Street redesign
Now that a Boston design firm has recommended changes to make Union Street more attractive and more accessible to bicyclists and pedestrians, the city’s next step is to test out some of the suggestions.
City Planner Jessica Allan said the city doesn’t have the money to make the improvements, which range from creating a bicycle lane to reconstructing an intersection. The design plan created by the Cecil Group was paid for by a $10,000 from the state Department of Housing and Community Development.
“We need to see what we can do using limited money,” she said. The city could apply for MassWorks Infrastructure grants to implement the changes, but otherwise would have to rely on its limited state transportation funding.
“A lot of work needs to happen to bring some of these ideas to reality,” she said. “Some we can start to test before we decide to spend money.”
For instance, measures that could make crosswalks more visible could be tested by blocking off parking spaces near crosswalks, to see if removing them would improve visibility. To see if extending the curb into the roadway improves visibility at a crosswalk, the city could install a temporary “bump out” to simulate it.
Other changes the Cecil Group presented include adding a “landscaping buffer” between parking areas and the sidewalk and adding a bike lane, which would likely involve removing parking on one or both sides of the road south of Liberty Street.
The firm had several suggestions to make safer the Union Street area where Liberty and Railroad streets and the Manhan Rail Trail all meet. One option would reroute the rail trail approximately 20 feet south so it would cross Union Street at the Liberty Street intersection, while another option called for realigning the two side streets and the rail trail so they form a square, four-way intersection with Union Street.
Rebecca Everett can be reached at reverett@gazettenet.com.
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