NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The North Adams Housing Authority Board of Commissioners will hold a grievance hearing with the Tenants Association to discuss retaliatory actions allegedly committed by the executive director.

At the end of a nearly two-hour meeting Wednesday, the commissioners and their attorney Elisabeth Goodman asked that all parties book a grievance hearing to discuss actions taken by Executive Director Jennifer Hohn, who the Tenants Association claims locked them out of their office as a retaliatory act.

Tenants Association President Corey Fortin posted a video on social media on Aug. 14 demonstrating doors opening at the authority's Ashland and Spring Park apartments without any alarms signaling. He claimed the next day that the tenants organization's office and kitchen were locked.

"This was a personal attack on us for doing a live video," said Fortin, who was filming the NAHA Commissioners meeting Wednesday.

Throughout the meeting, tenants asked about the association, the locked office, and general safety concerns. Commissioners steered them away until they reached the appropriate agenda item.

Hohn eventually responded to allegations of locking the office, saying it was not retaliatory but a matter of tenant safety.

"That was an attempt by NAHA to stop the spread of misinformation that you were putting on Facebook about the alarms," she said.

The conversation stemmed from an Open Meeting Law violation complaint filed by North Adams resident Jennifer Barbeau, stating that the commission wrongly used an executive session at a past meeting to discuss the matter. She felt that without active litigation, the commission used the closed-door meeting to "shield" Hohn from scrutiny in reference to what Barbeau referred to as "felony larceny." She claimed Hohn seized and locked away over $2,200 of Tenants Association assets, crossing the legal threshold.

Goodman first addressed Barbeau's complaint, noting that litigation on the matter was filed. Even if the meeting took place before litigation was filed, executive session covers the threat of litigation — which she claimed existed.

She then stated that NAHA does not recognize a tenants association, noting the commission never received the requested material that would codify the group's existence.

"There is no formally recognized tenants association," she said. "They need to be officially recognized, request to be officially recognized, and then provide certification of election procedures. But that never occurred."

She said this information had been requested by Hohn.

Commissioner Marie Harpin revealed a document from 2025 indicating that NAHA did acknowledge a tenants association.

However, still lacking full documentation, Goodman and Hohn felt the document was not solid evidence. Hohn indicated that many of the members of the claimed Tenants Association have since changed. Hohn reiterated that she has no idea how members are elected, which also caused confusion among board members.

Barbeau called that bunk, saying she was present when the Tenants Association was created as a liaison from the City Council.