MaineHousing Welcomes Frank O’Hara as New Chairman
AUGUSTA – MaineHousing Tuesday welcomed four new members to its Board of Commissioners including newly appointed board chairman Frank O’Hara.
Appointed by Gov. Janet Mills and confirmed by the Maine State Senate O’Hara takes the gavel from outgoing Chair Lincoln P. Merrill, Jr.
O’Hara has been an independent public policy consultant since 1987. His work includes market analyses for housing development markets in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, and involves projects for senior, multifamily, single family, seasonal, and year-round housing; as well as varied funding sources including private financing, the Low Income Housing Tax Credit, and Rural Development.
In his opening comments to his fellow commissioners and the public, O’Hara said Maine was at a critical junction with an unprecedented opportunity to make strong progress on affordable housing.
“I’ve been around housing for 40 plus years in Maine,” O’Hara said. “Opportunities to make significant change only come along once every generation. And right now, more so than any other time in Maine, the door is open to housing.” He said from political leaders on both sides of the aisle to non-profit and private sector developers to municipal government, many entities were focused on solving the state’s affordable housing shortage.
“We have a great responsibility on this board as does the staff of (MaineHousing) to take advantage of this moment, to act with a sense of urgency but also with responsibility and intelligence, about what we are doing,” O’Hara said. “We are going to be setting a platform for activities for the next 25 years in the coming year or two. So, let’s get to work.”
O’Hara was co-owner of Planning Decisions, Inc., and held several public policy positions including Special Assistant to Gov. Joseph Brennan, Director of Planning and Program Development at Maine State Housing Authority, Director of the Community Assistance Division at Maine State Planning Office, Director of Targeted Jobs Program at the City of Portland, and Housing and Community Development Planner at Greater Portland Council of Governments.
O’Hara, who has authored several housing-related studies on affordability, policies, elderly housing, housing preferences, and the cost of sprawl is one of four new commissioners recently appointed by Mills.
Also new to the commission:
-Sonia Barrantes, a former Naval Flight Officer and U.S. Naval Academy graduate. Barrantes spent a decade as a Naval aviator, flying carrier-based combat aircraft all over the country and world. She holds an undergraduate degree in aerospace engineering and a graduate degree in mechanical engineering. Barrantes has significant experience in the design of advanced mechanical and plumbing systems for large multi-family apartment buildings, office buildings, libraries, and single-family homes. She is dedicated to the design of buildings that are healthy and safe for the occupants and the planet. She is a registered engineer in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and New York.
-Elizabeth “Betty” Dietz, a Presque Isle native, and now a Veazie resident, has extensive experience working in finance in the fuel oil and liquid propane gas industry, Medicare benefits, and senior housing. Dietz recently retired as the finance manager and bookkeeper for the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter.
-Renee Lewis, a long-time Maine real estate professional with experience in financing both single and multi-family homes including senior and affordable housing. Lewis has also served on as the chair for the board of Avesta Housing. She currently works for Bloomfield Capital and is a graduate of Duke University. Lewis has also served as the president for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Maine.
“I am thrilled with the capacity and passion our new Board members bring to an already strong group of Commissioners,” said MaineHousing Director Daniel Brennan. “I look forward to working with Frank and all of the commissioners to continue providing affordable housing solutions to those in need.”
Brennan on Tuesday also thanked Merrill and fellow, outgoing Commissioner Kevin Joseph for their service to MaineHousing and the people of Maine.
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MaineHousing has helped Maine people own, rent, repair, and heat their homes since 1969. MaineHousing is an independent state authority created to address the problems of unsafe, unsuitable, overcrowded, and unaffordable housing. MaineHousing is a $2.1 billion financial institution with a staff of over 190 people. MaineHousing assists more than 90,000 Maine households and invests more than $300 million in the Maine economy annually.
