Affordable-Housing Forum Expects to Answer Your Questions

Affordable housing in Barrington is a very touchy subject. It has been for years. 

To help slice through some of the confusion and to eliminate any possible misinformation out there, the Town Council is scheduling a workshop on affordable housing on Tuesday evening, Oct. 22. 

It will start at 7 pm in the Barrington High School auditorium with a panel of “educational experts sharing information with Barrington,” said Town Councilor Cynthia Coyne, the lead organizer. 

Town Moderator Julia Califano has agreed to moderate the forum.

Coyne said that she and Steve Martin, chairman of the Housing Board of Trustees, Town Councilor Ann Strong, Town Manager Peter DeAngelis Jr. and Town Planner Phil Hervey have been “working hard to come up with a forum that is factual and educational,” she said.

They have assembled what she describes as “a balanced and diverse panel of speakers” who will answer as many questions as possible about affordable housing in Rhode Island. 

The panelists include:

• Mike Milito, chief legal counsel for Rhode Island Housing
• Carol Ventura, development director for Rhode Island Housing
• Sen. John Tassoni Jr., who sponsored the original 2004 affordable housing legislation
• Lisa Prevost, author of “Snob Zones: Fair Prejudice in Real Estate” and a New York Times writer.
• Justin Katz, managing editor of Ocean State Current and Anchor Rising
• A Rhode Island Realtors Association representative to be determined

Have a question? Submit your question in advance for the panel by next Wednesday, Oct. 16. Click here for the Barrington town website and then click on the appropriate link.

The organizers also will try to save some time at the end of the two-hour forum for questions from the floor, Coyne said.