Cambridge Unifies Four Housing Programs Under New City Department

The Cambridge City Council voted unanimously Monday to consolidate the city’s four housing programs into a single department, aiming to better coordinate services for residents and streamline how the city administers housing policy.

The reorganization, proposed by City Manager Yi-An Huang ’05, merges the city’s Housing Department, Planning and Development Division, Multi-Service Center, and Office of the Housing Liaison — programs that collectively provide services ranging from affordable housing development to support for homeless residents but currently report to three different departments.

City officials said the consolidation reflects the growing scale of Cambridge’s housing efforts in recent decades.

“We’re much bigger than we were 20 years ago, and we’ve grown in a way that’s not always coordinated,” said Christopher Cotter, the housing director for the Community Development Department. “And here’s a way to try to bring it in, make it more coordinated, and allow it to evolve more together, rather than potentially separately.”

The new Housing Department will report to Assistant City Manager for Community Development Melissa A. Peters and Cotter.

Under the new structure, the department will be organized around three primary focus areas: housing services, affordable housing programs, and affordable housing development. Together, those areas will oversee five of the city’s housing initiatives, including homelessness and housing support services, affordable rental and homeownership programs, and affordable housing development.

City Councilor Marc C. McGovern said the change would make the city’s housing system easier to navigate for both residents and city staff.

He pointed to a recent case involving a constituent experiencing housing instability, whom he tried to help shortly before Monday’s meeting. While attempting to connect her with the right city agency, McGovern said he struggled to determine which office handled the relevant services.

“When it’s confusing or daunting for me to navigate all of that, it is incredibly difficult for the individual who was going through a traumatic time and worried about a lot of other things,” McGovern said.

Maura Pensak, the city’s Housing Liaison, said the change would create “one stop shopping” for housing services in Cambridge.

“Everyone will know where to go, whether they’re going for a question about affordable rental programs, or to get rental assistance, or they have a tenant rights question. Right now, we work really well together, but there is a better way to do it,” Pensak said.

Several councilors, including Councilor Timothy R. Flaherty, encouraged the city to consider placing the newly consolidated department in a single office location to further improve coordination and make services easier for residents to access.

“To the extent that we can find space to have these centralized essential services all located under one roof, I think is critical,” Flaherty said.

Huang said the current plan does not address physically consolidating the department, though the city may explore the possibility in the future.

The Council approved the reorganization in an 8-0 vote, and Councilor E. Denise Simmons was absent.

Monday’s vote also marked an early example of procedural changes under the new city charter adopted by Cambridge voters last November.

Under the new charter, changes to the structure of city departments must be submitted as an order by the city manager and approved or rejected by the Council. Councilors cannot amend the proposals or introduce their own restructuring plans.

Previously, the authority to create or restructure departments largely rested with the city manager, without a formal approval process. The new charter also requires the Council to hold a public hearing before approving any such proposal — a provision Councilor Patricia M. “Patty” Nolan ’80 said improves transparency.

“This would not have happened under the old charter,” Nolan said.

—Staff writer Jack B. Reardon can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on X @JackBReardon.