SOUTHAMPTON — At a time when the need for affordable housing has become increasingly apparent nationwide, a lack of volunteers for local government positions has left Southampton in a tough spot.

The town has had a bylaw in place to establish an affordable housing trust for several years now, but according to two members of the town’s housing authority, the trust hasn’t generated any interest. Sierra Simmons, chair of the Southampton Housing Authority, said that the bylaw needed to established the trust was passed in December of 2022. The trust needs five trustees, but currently has none.

Formerly, the housing authority’s Vice Chair, Joy Piper, served as an appointee on the trust during her tenure on the Select Board. But after her Select Board term concluded, Piper did not seek reelection, therefore vacating both seats.

“We were really pushing for people in the community who have real estate experience, finance experience, housing experience, to apply,” said Piper. “Since it was created there has been zero interest.”

“This is an issue because we have a substantial amount of money in the CPA (Community Preservation Act) fund for community housing,” said Simmons. “We would like to be able to use it.”

Simmons said that the town currently has more than $550,000 in the CPA fund that they hope to use for affordable housing. But the trust would have to request use of these funds from the Community Preservation Committee and then secure Town Meeting approval in order to utilize it. But until the trust gains members, the money remains in the fund, collecting interest.

“Once that group gets going, I think we’ll be able to move forward with some affordable housing,” said Piper.

The unique power of the housing trust, Simmons explained, is that it would be able to act without Town Meeting approval once it has been approved to use CPA funding, allowing the trust to keep up with the fast pace of the real estate market. But Simmons said that this does not mean the trust can do “whatever they want,” as they would still have to report their spending to the Community Preservation Committee. Rather, this power would allow the trust to be “nimble,” and help the town reach its affordable housing goals.

“Less than 2% of our housing stock is affordable right now,” said Simmons. “The standard statewide is to have at least 10% of the housing be affordable… there’s a lot of room for growth here with affordable housing.”

There are many possible reasons why the trust hasn’t garnered any interest, from lack of awareness to confusion about qualifications. Simmons speculates that town residents don’t realize how great the need is for volunteers in local government, or they don’t think they have the experience these positions might need.

“Seats all over town government are— we have openings,” said Simmons. “People don’t realize that there’s not a lot of barriers to joining. You just have to care and maybe study up a little.”

But Piper believes the dearth of interested community members is part of a larger, ongoing issue that is noticeable in many small towns.

“It’s a trend now in local politics that there are not enough volunteers for anything,” she said. “I think it’s an overall trend that we don’t have enough volunteers.”

Piper said that, in Southampton, this has caused local government to be made up of “a few people wearing many different hats,” who end up getting burnt out and eventually leaving their positions.

For those interested in serving on the Southampton Affordable Housing Trust, more information is available on the Southampton Housing Authority’s page on the town website. To submit your interest in serving on the trust, Simmons said to reach out to the town’s Select Board. The Select Board can be reached at selectboard@townofsouthampton.org.

Alexa Lewis can be reached at alewis@gazettenet.com.