The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe has long recognized the need for affordable housing within the town of Mashpee. Affordable housing is one of the ways to preserve a cohesive community and prevent the diaspora that will surely result from the artificially inflated sale prices and rents of even the most modest of houses in Mashpee. This is, after all, our homeland.
We do, as a tribe, have access to HUD programs for Indian Tribes, and we are fortunate in being gifted with land on which to build housing. To readily take advantage of our situation, that land should be in trust by the federal government. It is not. I lay the blame at the feet of the Cromwell administration, who were so busy lashing out at their enemies and consolidating their power that the Carcieri case was decided right under their noses—and they hardly uttered a peep, until it was too late. They could have submitted an amicus brief, and delayed the decision. So what do they do? 40B. Yup.
MGL Chapter 40B, sections 20-23 provide for affordable housing in the Commonwealth in municipalities with less than 10% affordable housing by allowing developers to bypass local zoning ordinances under certain guidelines. 40B developments often cause lawsuits and trepidation among the citizens of a town. Not that an Indian housing development wouldn’t do the same, but at least we would have had the benefit of federal protection.
Of course, the 40B could become a reality, at which point then we will have to deal with a real problem: who controls the process of accepting or rejecting applications. I certainly hope that the present council has no part of it. If so, I could write out a list of who will live there. You know what I’m talking about. The only way to prevent that is to have a strict list of eligibility, in sequence:
1. Elders currently living in Mashpee
2. Elders who formerly lived in Mashpee, but left for various reasons.
3. Needy families who currently live in Mashpee.
4. Others.
The lowest level of tenant should be descendants of those who left and never attempted to return. This program should not be a means for the council to buy votes.
