Mayor Menino Appoints New Members to the Boston Fair Housing Commission (BFHC)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – May 24, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — On May 22nd, City Clerk Maureen Feeney swore in Mayor Menino’s two new appointees to the Boston Fair Housing Commission’s five-member board. In the photo below, Fair Housing Commissioners Mary White and Marlena Richardson (hands raised) are officially sworn in, while accompanied by existing Fair Housing Commissioners, Fair Housing Commission staff, and Dion Irish, the Executive Director of the Office of Civil Rights.

The Boston Fair Housing Commission (BFHC) was established by ordinance in 1982 (CBC 10-3) to address segregation and housing discrimination in Boston. The BFHC works to eliminate housing discrimination and increase access to housing through the following programs:

Investigation of housing discrimination complaints and enforcement of housing discrimination laws.

Overseeing the affirmative marketing of housing developed with government assistance.

Maintaining a listing of regional housing opportunities and providing housing counseling, and interagency coordination.

Fair Housing Commissioners have significant judicial enforcement responsibilities granted by state Statute for cases that are tried administratively by the commission.