Somerville Fair Housing Commission 05-28-2026

The Somerville Fair Housing Commission held a remote meeting on May 28, 2026, focusing primarily on community engagement and education efforts related to fair housing. The commission reviewed and approved minutes from previous meetings and discussed outreach activities, including social media engagement and upcoming public events such as the June 7th Carnival and meetings with community organizations like Cass. A significant portion of the meeting was dedicated to reviewing the commission's work over the past year, including relationship building with local groups, educational event planning, and the development of engagement materials. Commissioners also discussed potential policy recommendations for the upcoming FY25 annual report, including the possibility of adding returning citizens as a protected class and collaborating with organizations like SUFFK to conduct fair housing testing to identify discrimination patterns. The commission emphasized the importance of using data from such testing to support structural changes and improve enforcement. Plans were made to finalize a comprehensive report and a community engagement toolkit to guide future commission activities and outreach efforts.