Efforts to repeal the state’s Chapter 40B affordable housing law failed two years ago, but opponents of the law are back, with a vengeance. So far, more than $200,000 has been spent collecting signatures to put the repeal question on the ballot this year.
It’s a striking change for a grassroots effort which had raised less than $14,000 in its first go-round. More striking is the fact that the surge in funds appears to be the result of only one organization – a nonprofit linked to groups which seek to reduce human population growth.
Chapter 40B allows developers to bypass certain local approvals in communities where less than 10 percent of the housing stock is deemed affordable, in exchange for allocating at least 20 percent of a project’s units to lower-income households. Supporters say the law has created thousands of affordable housing opportunities. Critics say it is often abused by developers.
After an effort led by Arlington’s John Belskis and his group, the Repeal 40B Ballot Question Committee, failed to obtain enough signatures in 2008, the group re-applied for the upcoming 2010 election.
This time, the group has submitted more than 80,000 signatures, far more than the 66,593 needed to make it through preliminary certification by the Secretary of State’s office.
The majority of signatures appear to have been gathered by Freedom Petition Management, a professional signature collection firm under contract with the Chelmsford-based Slow Growth Initiative (SGI), a previously little-known organization which has been active in anti-40B efforts in that town.
Deep Pockets
Formed in 2008, SGI describes itself as a statewide nonprofit, dedicated to examining and promoting sustainable energy, development and economic policies. It is organized as a regional initiative of the New Hampshire-based New England Coalition for Sustainable Population (NECSP), a nonprofit which supports reducing human population growth.
For most of its history, NECSP was operated as an entirely volunteer organization, according to Joe Bish, former executive director and current board member. Tax filings from 2004 through 2006 show the group received less than $6,000 in gifts and contributions per year.
In 2008, the year the group absorbed the Slow Growth Initiative, NECSP recorded more than $200,000 in contributions.
Similarly, recent filings with the state board of elections reveal that while Belskis’ Repeal 40B Committee attracted less than $4,000 in direct donations in 2009, the Slow Growth Initiative donated $283,900 in in-kind contributions to the group. Belskis also told Banker & Tradesman that Repeal 40B’s filings with the state were prepared by professionals affiliated with SGI.
Currently, while NECSP itself has no paid staff, the Slow Growth Initiative has three, including director Craig Chemaly, a former political consultant and aide to Rep. Tom Golden, D-Lowell.
SGI attracted controversy last year in Chelmsford, when mailings it sent out in partnership with Repeal 40B targeting town officials brought threats of a lawsuit and a $1,000 fine from the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance.
The Man Behind The Curtain?
Rob Wilkinson, co-owner of Freedom Petition Management, says his company had a contract with SGI and collected more than 90,000 signatures in support of the Repeal 40B petition on its behalf. The company has been paid more than $200,000 so far, but Wilkinson says his firm is still owed thousands.
Wilkinson said payments include a $6,000 check from the Repeal 40B Committee signed by Roland Van Liew, CEO of Chelmsford technology training firm Hands on Technology Transfer. Filings confirm the $6,000 payment, though it is unclear who actually signed the check.
The extent with which Van Liew is explicitly involved in funding SGI and Repeal 40B could not be verified.
The Van Liew Family Foundation, a private charitable foundation he maintains, has contributed tens of thousands of dollars in support of organizations working on population issues similar to SGI, according to tax documents. In 2008, Van Liew sat on the board of NECSP.
“Exactly who [Van Liew] is, I’m not sure, except that he seems to be a strong supporter of the Slow Growth Initiative, and has a deep desire to see 40B done away with,” Belskis told Banker & Tradesman.
Van Liew is an outspoken opponent of 40B, and has sparred publicly with local officials over 40B projects and land deals. He declined to comment for this story.
How much more effort – and funds – SGI is likely to put into the 40B fight remains unclear.
“It’s an issue we care about and we will help, but it’s not our organization,” Chemaly said. Calls to SGI and NECSP made to determine if that help might entail still more money funneled into Belskis’ Repeal 40B effort were not returned.
