Good morning,

Two outstanding humans who’ve dedicated much of their lives to putting roofs over the heads and creating safe spaces for some of our most vulnerable neighbors announced their retirements yesterday.

• Amy Schectman, who has spent four decades in the affordable housing space, including the last 15 as CEO of 2Life Communities, steps down in October.
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• Also after four decades focused on advancing the well-being of children and families, including opening a family shelter last year in Newton, FamilyAid President & CEO Larry Seamans retires in August.

Schectman’s  and Seamans’ announcements landing on the same day felt less like coincidence and more like something cosmic. Both nonprofit leaders grew and transformed their organizations, serving with purpose and love.

Their departures are also a reminder of our need to cultivate a new generation of leaders across all sectors to fix the mess prior generations (yes, I’m including me) are collectively leaving behind.

Under her leadership, Schectman doubled the nonprofit’s portfolio to include more than 1,800 apartments across 12 Boston-area properties, housing more than 2,000 older adults, including most recently Opus Newton.

“Creating communities of loving kindness is sacred work, especially important in a society that often ignores or dismisses older adults and where elder economic insecurity is the highest in the nation. Social connection, which our housing nurtures, is the best possible antidote to loneliness,” she said in a statement.

In his eight years leading FamilyAid, Seamans helped guide his organization through some of the most challenging chapters in recent American history, supporting more than 15,000 children and parents through COVID, a global humanitarian crisis, and devastating cuts to the safety-net.

“Today, FamilyAid serves more than 5,000 children and parents each year and is stronger than ever, with over 150 professionals, 700 volunteers, diversified revenue, a growing endowment, and reserves,” Seamans wrote in a letter.

Schectman will be succeeded by 2Life’s current president, Liz Heyer. FamilyAid’s board has begun searching for its next CEO.

We honored Schectman, a Brookline resident, with our R.L. Tennant Award last November. If you missed it, you can watch the video here.   Seamans, a Newton resident, memorably addressed our chamber a few years back.

Our cities and towns are stronger, more caring and just better because of Amy Schectman and Larry Seamans.

I welcome your thoughts.

Turns out this mandate is mandatory

Yesterday, Attorney General Andrea Campbell made good on her promise to enforce the MBTA Communities law by filing a lawsuit against nine noncompliant communities.

Campbell hopes “the power of this lawsuit will get them to come into compliance,” effectively compelling the towns to adopt zoning that allows multifamily housing, as 165 other communities already have,  writes Jennifer Smith of CommonWealth Beacon.

It’s been more than five years since the law’s adoption. Since then — even as the housing crisis has only intensified — MBTA-C has begun to show results.

A new Boston Indicators report, authored by Newton’s own Amy Dain, found that the law has already helped generate nearly 7,000 housing units statewide.

So far that includes 203 homes completed or in the pipeline thanks to MBTA-C in Needham; 193 homes in Watertown; 158 homes in Newton; but none to date in Wellesley, according to Dain’s report.  

(We believe the Watertown number of MBTA-C units is actually higher than Dain reported…but sadly not Wellesley’s.)

Dain concludes that MBTA-C is the most effective state policy to boost housing production in years, writing that “construction is happening as a direct result.”

At the same time, she cautions that the law’s hallmark flexibility “leaves a lot of leeway for communities to embrace — or sidestep — the law’s housing goals.”

What’s next?

But 7,000 homes from MBTA-C is only a down payment. The state estimates Massachusetts must build roughly 220,000 homes over the next decade to stabilize housing costs and meet demand.

Just how that should happen was the focus of our Annual Real Estate Forum on Tuesday.

Our panel of housing policy experts pitched reforms ranging from legalizing five-plexes and starter homes statewide, to setting firm time limits on housing permits, to letting developers — not municipalities — determine how much parking a project truly needs.

State Senator William Brownsberger said his chamber intends to be as “bold as possible” on housing this session.  Still, getting any of these ideas over the finish line won’t be easy. “MBTA zoning has put communities through a lot,” Brownsberger said.

Tuesday’s discussion also touched on one idea that would hurt, not help, address housing supply and affordability.

"Passing a law on rent control is not going to work," Needham Bank CEO Joe Campanelli warned about the pending ballot question.

"We've already talked to hundreds of investors that look at Massachusetts now saying, 'We'll just invest our dollars down south. We'll move our dollars somewhere else.' So we really need to find ways to increase supply across the board."

Here’s the full video from Tuesday’s program:

Friday grab bag

• Need a warm thought for a frigid day? Spring Seasonings, our annual tasting event featuring 40+ local restaurants is 73 days away (April 13).
  
  
• Gov. Maura Healey has filed legislation to bar federal immigration agents from entering churches, schools, daycares, hospitals, health clinics and courthouses. (WBUR)
  
  
• Don’t miss AG Andrea Campbell’s Globe op-ed: Why I filed a lawsuit to enforce housing law — and why it’s personal for me.
  
  
• MAYEnard wants to change its name but what about DRAKEut?
  
  
• Norinori Test Kitchen is now open in Brookline, moving into a space on Chestnut Hill Ave. at Cleveland Circle. (Boston Restaurant Talk)
  
  
• The Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities will host a Fair Housing Regional Listening Session for Greater Boston on March 10, followed by a Cross-Regional Virtual Session on March 12.
  
  
• Two Newton City Council committees are supporting a $600,000 Community Preservation Act grant for the Suzuki School of Newton to help fund a $2.5 million renovation. (Newton Beacon)
  
  
• Wellesley College’s Spring 2026 Just in Time Job & Internship Career Fair is March 31 (3–6 p.m.), offering employers a chance to connect with students and alums from Wellesley, Babson, and Olin for full-time and summer roles. Registration for employers is open through March 20.
  
  
• For the record, Sydney Sweeney does not have our permission to hang bras from the iconic Echo Bridge.

Great Plain Ave. ideas to be presented next week

Needham’s Select Board heard an update this week on the effort to reimagine Great Plain Ave. in Needham Center, ahead of a highly anticipated public meeting next Wedneday.

This is the first big step since the project was paused last year and the town withdrew from the state grant that would have funded  a pilot.

DPW Director Carys Lustig outlined the core challenges facing the center: inadequate drainage, narrow sidewalks, and accident-prone roadway conditions. She then walked through three alternatives to the current four-lane road: two, two-and-a-half, or three lanes.

Board members had mixed views on the options but agreed on what comes next: public input. A community meeting is set for Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. at Powers Hall, followed by a public survey we’ll be sure to share in the days ahead.

Police chief: What we’ll do if ICE comes here

Needham Police Chief John Schlittler also met with the Select Board this week to explain how his officers would respond if federal immigration agents were to undertake an enforcement action in town.

“The role of our police department is to enforce local and state laws, not federal law. That’s why they have federal agencies,” Schlittler said.

Being in the U.S. without legal immigration papers is a civil offense. By state law, he said his officers cannot hold an individual beyond the time needed to process an arrest, writes Seth Bauer at the Needham Observer.

The situation changes if a criminal arrest warrant is issued by a federal judge, rather than a federal civil immigration detainer.

Massachusetts law also requires police officers to attempt de-escalation before using force and to intervene when other officers use excessive force. That means police officers across the state must intervene if they see federal agents using choke holds, improperly using weapons or committing similar acts of extreme violence.

“It’s imperative for us that all Needham residents or any victim of a crime or [anyone] in need of help in our community feel comfortable and safe coming to the Needham Police Department for help regardless of their status, ” said Schlittler.

Here’s information that can be helpful for employers regarding soon-to-expire Haitian TPS status; what to do if ICE visits your work place; and new employer guidance from the state.

That’s what you need to know for today, unless rather than shoveling on Sunday you’d like to know how to safely eat snow.

I know, I know, that was a long newsletter today! Thanks for making it to the end. 

Greg Reibman (he, him)

President & CEO

Charles River Regional Chamber

617.244.1688

Max Woolf contributed to today’s newsletter.