(Photo: Past President Roxane Cole, John Gallagher, and President Laura Young.)
 
Roxane Cole introduced John Gallagher, Director of the Maine State Housing Authority. Mr. Gallagher has been Director since 2013 and previously served as executive director of Westbrook Housing Authority and president of Westbrook Development Corporation – two agencies that develop and manage affordable housing in Westbrook and the greater Portland area. In addition to serving on numerous Housing Boards, he is a former real estate broker and a former Rotarian in the Bath/Brunswick Club.
 
Mr. Gallagher began by giving us a brief history of the Maine State Housing Authority. He noted that it is an independent agency created in 1969 to address the housing affordability crisis and improve the quality of housing in Maine. His strategic plan at the time was to improve the quality of housing, expand the supply of affordable housing, and help attain housing stability in Maine.

Mr. Gallagher explained that the Maine State Housing Authority doesn’t actually build affordable housing in Maine – they make much of their money from loans to others (who knew?), as well as other programs.
 
Getting to the heart of his presentation – affordable housing issues and solutions – Mr. Gallagher stressed that Maine has an elderly population that has the highest number of old homes and the highest percentage of home ownership in the nation. Mr. Gallagher expressed his frustration that a $15 million bond issue for construction of additional senior housing units approved by voters has been blocked by Governor LePage. (He promises to discuss it with the governor at their upcoming meeting.)
 
Mr. Gallagher acknowledged that the need for affordable housing far outstrips the ability of the Maine State Housing Authority to keep up with the demand. In Portland, for example, rental units comprise 56% of available housing, while 43% is single family. In 2015, the vacancy rate was 3½% -- today it is 1%. Lack of supply has driven up rents – an average rent for a 2-bedroom apartment in 2012 in Portland was $1000 – today it’s $1400!
 
Despite Maine State Housing approving 300 additional units for 2017 (at a cost of approximately $5 million), there exists a need for an additional 10,000 – 11,000 units. Maine State Housing is doing what it can to alleviate this difficult situation, but only increased housing through the private sector or a change in philosophy by the governor about using bonds to support housing, will help resolve this critical shortage.
 
Maine State Housing website: www.mainehousing.org