hello i'm thomas ina olson and i'm running for reelection to the belmont housing authority my husband john and i moved to cushing square in one thousand nine hundred and seventy five we've raised four children who attended the belmont public schools including the butler and when brook elementary we have three grandchildren and one on the way a little about my background i have over twenty five years in the financial services industry as a financial advisor when my boys were young i currently serve on the council on aging and the housing trust where i've been an ardent supporter for senior town residents because of my commitment to education i also serve on the superintendent's advisory council for belmont community education many of you know me as the founder and producer of the payson park music festival as the nd summer concert series in all of massachusetts it is now going into its th season paysan park produces eleven family and four children's concerts in yulee three years ago i was elected to the belmont housing authority the belmont housing authority manages three properties in belmont under the department of housing and community development there are two senior housing properties stemming gardens with eighty units and waverly oaks with seventy four units the rd property is belmont village built in one thousand nine hundred and eighty nine as family housing for returning veterans these one hundred dollars units half with two bedrooms half with three bedrooms were put under d h c d s per view a number of years back the b h a received two million dollars which is spread over these two hundred and fifty four dollars units for managing these properties ultimately the funding comes from you the taxpayer it's clear that our housing infrastructure is aging and requires attention when problems arise residents complete a work order request involved in the completion of the much delayed sherman garden community center handicap ramp thanks to being notified by the senior citizens at sherman gardens one of the board significant accomplishment was the hiring of a very knowledgeable and competent executive director mr jacqueline martin has been on board for over a year during that time there have been improvements in our maintenance request response stein our collections on backgrounds and the revamping of personnel policies i'm also very proud of initiating the installation of four little libraries for book sharing at the three properties i believe that reading is an important foundation for education i would like to encourage town residents to add their books to our little i'd also like to see greater ties to the educational programs with the belmont public schools and the belmont public library for our younger residents going forward there is much more to accomplish including whittling down our wait list and adding more units accessible to belmont residents funding from a c p a grant initiated by the housing trust has permitted the development of that scope of work i'd like to encourage attendant organization and their creation of a website to share significant information on from potlucks to critical issues i'd like to continue my advocacy for the residents of belmont housing authority using my ties to the town of belmont as a member of the housing authority i hope to continue to meet the fiduc challenges of the b h a as importantly i hope to foster a sense of community within the properties as well as encourage a sense of community with all of the town of belmont i hope you will support me for belmont housing authority on april to stay april nd thank you