I don’t doubt that property managers at organizations like Avesta Housing work hard. They’re buried in paperwork — HUD forms, inspections, compliance reports and tenant communications. Those tasks are demanding and necessary. But what’s missing in too many housing organizations is the other half of the equation: people who actually understand buildings.

Avesta manages hundreds of apartments across Maine and New Hampshire, yet none of its management staff appear to have formal training in building science, environmental health or pest and plant ecology. The result is predictable — humidity, mold, rodent activity and invasive plants that linger for years while reports get filed and boxes get checked.

Affordable housing needs administrators and technicians, not just one or the other. Without people who understand airflow, drainage and ecosystems, the paperwork becomes a shell around a physical problem that never gets solved.

I say this as someone who began in radio and television and later earned a master’s in educational leadership. I’ve seen how institutions function best when practical knowledge and administrative structure meet. Good housing policy should require that balance — because tenants deserve more than forms and files; they deserve homes built and maintained by people who truly understand them.

Brad Fox
South Portland