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A “food desert” is a trendy term for an area that might have lots of grocery stores, typically corner markets, but have a serious lack of nutritious food offerings. Instead they may offer junk food, soda, liquor and tobacco products.
What we have in Richmond is a “news desert.” New news sources, such as Chevron’s Richmond Standard, are popping up daily like spring flowers, but it seems the more we have, the drier the landscape becomes. The surface may even look wet, but it is a mirage, and below the surface, it is dry as a bone.
Coverage of the Richmond Housing Authority is my case in point. Recent coverage focuses on the sensational and on unverified allegations while neglecting the nutritious and healthy heavy lifting of actually digging into the causes and the solutions.
Covering a story like this is like free beer to journalists, who have emptied their quivers of pejorative words while gorging on critical quotes like starving dogs.
Here are some examples:
- “most trouble public housing complex”
- “substandard conditions”
- “disrespect and neglect”
- “pest infestations”
- “most troubled in the nation”
- “ineffective”
- “screaming”
- “berated”
- “insects and vermin”
- “frustration”
- “squalid conditions”
- “unhelpful and disrespectful”
- “uninhabitable building”
- “two weeks of upheaval”
- “two snakes”
- “emotions boiled over”
Three is little dispute about most of the conditions at Hacienda. The roof not only leaks, it is largely useless. The building suffers from years and millions of dollars of deferred maintenance. The Housing Authority is typically delayed by days or weeks in addressing tenant complaints. Under California law and HUD regulations, the landlord, in this case the Richmond Housing Authority has an obligation to maintain the facility in a habitable condition, which means controlling mold, roaches, bedbugs, mice and rats. On the other hand, residents have an obligation to maintain their units in accordance with Housing Authority standards, as described in “Your Friendly Guide to Public Housing” that is provided to every tenant and describes policies regarding cleanliness, pets, housekeeping, maintenance, energy and water conservation and much more.
What the press has avoided like prickly pear is any serious examination of why these conditions exist and what solutions are available. City Council members suffer from the same evasion syndrome.
In investigative reporting, conventional wisdom says, “follow the money.” The only money the press has followed are some alleged improper expenditures for meals and how much the executive director’s compensation is, neither of which would pay for even a fraction of the maintenance and operation shortfall that plagues the Housing Authority.
Without a clue of how it could be done, City Councilmembers are promising quick fixes that even include bulldozing Hacienda. Have they lost their minds? How are they going to pay for it? Where will the residents go? Have they forgotten that the embodied energy in a building would take 65 years of the greenest new building to save? Are buildings inherently bad, like career criminals with no hope for rehabilitation?
Here are some facts that go to the heart of this matter that the press continues pass up like a hitchhiker on a desert highway:
- HUD has continued to drastically reduce funding for public housing, particularly capital funding needed to address deferred maintenance. Why the City of Richmond, including the Richmond Housing Authority and the City Council are being held solely responsible for this by the press is beyond my comprehension.
- No journalist covering this story and no City Council member has suggested where the money would come from to upgrade the Hacienda building, relocate tenants or demolish the building.
- The much ballyhooed low HUD score for the Richmond Housing Authority is largely due to a zero rating in the financial category because the City of Richmond loaned the Housing Authority $7 million from the general fund to make up for HUD funding shortfalls. In the ultimate Catch 22, the City is disparaged by HUD for trying to shore up a deficit caused by HUD.
Finally, you have to look at the veracity of some of the impassioned claims made about conditions and lack of Housing Authority responsiveness. The truth is, at best elusive.
Here is an example.
At the March 5 meeting at Hacienda, the Chronicle posted a photo of a tearing Lydia McGill. Later, McGill’s cousin, Rodney Alamo Brown elaborated with a Facebook post:
Rodney Alamo Brown This is from my cousin not cuz..Ok Rodney Brown, what he's talking about is the council meeting at the Hacienda where I live our was because I went home two nights ago, I ran some bath water and as I stood on the side of my beside started feeling things flying all over me! I haven't been back since! First thing the next morning I went to Timothy Jones office at the City of Richmond head manager for housing. He wasn't in there I left a message he never called back so I called again at 1:00 pm he answered I told him what had happened he said he's gonna have someone go over and"assess" the apartment after not hearing anything else from him first I called HUD in San Francisco they gave me the Mayors office and the City council phone number the ladies there at both the offices did everything they could to help me then I was advised to be at the meeting. I left the hair salon ran over there and spoke to the mayor of Richmond, and Mr. Booze was also there along with a few others that I don't know. After speaking I asked them where am I suppose to sleep until they move me and what about my things in the house I still didn't get an offer for a hotel room, an invite to their house or anything for the night! A lady that says she works or use to work for the Mayors office followed me out and gave me money for a room! There was also a lady by the name of Jovanka Beckles vice mayor and Child and family team facilitator for CC health services offered to help me find somewhere to sleep for the night! I have been a loyal patient tenant for 4 years at that raggedy housing place being promised from day one"if your a good tenant next test you'll get a Section 8 voucher" which was bull shit excuse me but right now I am very pissed with the city of Richmond, Mayors office the whole 9 yards! That Butt ass hole don't need to run for anything! Obviously he's a NAAASTY something that loves to live in filth! I've never had to live in nastyness and I'm not about to start now! I feel sorry for people like him and all we can do is pray for a man like him! This just shows you how when voting we never know about those people till they get in office and show their true colors of who they truly are!
I found out that an RPA member subsequently gave McGill money to spend the night in a hotel. I asked the Housing Authority to respond, and this is their version:
Tim -
Ms. McGill's unit was NOT inspected by Sterling.
Ms. McGill's unit was scheduled for roach treatment on January 14, 2014 when the entire building was notified. Ms. McGill failed to do the necessary prep work needed to properly treat her unit, therefore it was not treated.
Ms. McGill was offered unit #217 on November 26, 2013 - Maria phoned her and offered her the unit and Ms. McGill said "I already told Debra no, I am not moving".
On December 5, 2013 Maria phoned Ms. McGill and offered her unit #405, she refused.
Today, when Ms. McGill notified Maria of gnats in her unit stating she could not stay there, Maria then again asked if she was ready to move to unit #226 and her response was "I want to move out of this building!" and hung up the phone.
Ms. McGill's unit had previously been treated for roaches on 8/8/13, 9/23/13 and 11/8/13. No other request for roach treatment has been received even though Ms. McGill has reported other items which have been taken care of.
Debra Holter
LIPH Asset Specialist
It turns out that McGill’s unit was, after all, inspected by Sterling (The inspector recently retained by the City to do comprehensive inspections of all public housing units). Sterling reported the following:
- Living room window hard to open and close.
- Kitchen doors off track.
- Black discoloration on ceiling in Kitchen.
- Signs of water damage on Kitchen ceiling.
- Signs of water damage on bathroom walls.
- Toilet seat loose.
- Mesh on front door screen damaged.
Apparently, none of the items listed above was reported by McGill in a maintenance request. The inspection report did not mention any “flying things,” and no one has explained or even questioned why Ms. McGill did not take up the Housing Authority’s offer to move her to another apartment several months ago and twice since.
Getting to the bottom of all this is difficult, and the press is certainly no help.
Richmond leaders come under fire from residents of troubled housing complex
By Robert Rogers
Contra Costa Times
Posted: 03/06/2014 01:59:41 PM PST
Updated: 03/06/2014 10:02:13 PM PST
Mayor Gayle McLaughlin addresses a throng of residents complaining about conditions at the Hacienda public housing projects in Richmond. (Robert Rogers/Staff)
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RICHMOND -- City leaders absorbed about two hours of tongue lashing Wednesday evening from more than 75 residents of the city's most troubled public housing complex who complained about substandard conditions and years of disrespect and neglect from Richmond Housing Authority staff.
Residents of the six-story Hacienda housing complex on Roosevelt Avenue groused about leaky roofs, poor service, pest infestations and inadequate bathroom and disability accommodations during the meeting, which was called by Councilmen Nat Bates and Corky Boozé and also attended by Mayor Gayle McLaughlin, Vice Mayor Jovanka Beckles and City Councilman Jael Myrick.
"There are no happy tenants here," said Dolores Johnson, a 69-year-old resident of the aging, concrete building.
City officials vowed immediate action, saying residents needed to be moved out of the building.
"This situation is absolutely unacceptable," Myrick said, drawing cheers. "I am ready to vote to bulldoze this place tomorrow."
The meeting followed weeks of controversy stemming from reports by The Center for Investigative Journalism characterizing the housing authority as among the most troubled in the nation, beset by mounting debt, sloppy procurement practices, misuse of public funds and poor staff performance.
Housing Authority Director Tim Jones, who was labeled "ineffective" by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, has acknowledged the Hacienda should be demolished but said funding for such an operation is scant. The roof of the building leaks so badly that the top floor is vacant, costing the authority tens of thousands of dollars in lost rent in recent years and leaving needy residents without housing.
On Tuesday, the City Council voted to hire an independent investigator to audit the housing authority.
All the grievances at Hacienda were on visceral display Wednesday night. People outnumbered available seats in the stuffy, first-floor multipurpose room and loud voices boomed above the sound of nearby BART trains that rumbled by. Residents, often screaming, berated their elected leaders for not doing more to address the problems over the years.
Prompted by Boozé, one woman lifted her shirt to expose her stomach, which she said was pocked and scarred by chronic bedbug bites. Other residents said they wait days for workers to fix emergency plumbing overflows, and battle insects and vermin with home poison products.
McLaughlin, who called for action when problems first came to light, vowed help and assured residents "the situation will be resolved."
Beckles said change was imminent.
"It's over, it's done, this situation has changed," Beckles told residents.
Johnson fired back that she and her neighbors "want it in writing."
The City Council has scheduled a special meeting next week to discuss issues with the housing authority and its staff.
The meeting Wednesday brought a new dose of urgency to the housing controversy. Jones and City Manager Bill Lindsay, who were not at Wednesday's meeting, initially met the news reports with skepticism, and moved to conduct their own assessment of housing conditions.
Lindsay acknowledged Tuesday that city staff suffers from a "credibility problem" and he now supports an independent audit.
But Councilman Tom Butt remained skeptical. He visited the Hacienda site last month and wrote a lengthy report on his website criticizing The Center of Investigative Reporting's exposé. ¿He said conditions at the complex were better than reported,
In several Facebook posts, Butt also criticized Bates and Boozé for "fomenting anger" and said the city was "doing a decent job" until cuts in HUD funding to the housing authority were slashed in recent years.
"There are hundreds of people on the waiting list for these public housing units that provide clean, safe and affordable housing at far below market rates," Butt wrote. "It seems that once people get into public housing, they think they are in a hotel with maid service."
Butt said he plans to go back to investigate the Hacienda again Friday.
Bates, like his other council colleagues present Wednesday night, saw things differently.
"We need new management," Bates said. "I want a vote of no confidence for (Housing Director) Tim Jones."
Contact Robert Rogers at 510-262-2726 or rrogers@bayareanewsgroup.com. Follow him at Twitter.com/SFBaynewsrogers.
Frustrated residents sound off on Richmond public housing
Amy Julia Harris, Center for Investigative Reporting
Updated 6:05 am, Friday, March 7, 2014
Richmond City Councilman Corky Boozé (left) asks the Richmond mayor to look at the bedbug bites that a resident, comforted by Thomas Hunt, says she received while living in the Hacienda public housing complex. Photo: Lacy Atkins, The Chronicle
Lydia McGill tells of the Hacienda's conditions. Richmond's housing agency is ranked as one of the country's worst. Photo: Lacy Atkins, The Chronicle |
More on Richmond's public housing
More than 70 residents of Richmond public housing unleashed years of frustration at a public meeting over squalid living conditions and what they called unhelpful and disrespectful Housing Authority staffers.
Janae Fletcher, 30, told five members of Richmond's City Council who gathered Wednesday night at the Hacienda complex that she lived with rampant bedbugs and flooding in her apartment. When she went to the Housing Authority staff to get help, she was told the bedbugs were her fault, she said.
"I was scratching so hard that I had holes in my skin," Fletcher said. "And housing told me, 'Maybe it's the company you keep.' It made me feel like I was nothing. I didn't want to call maintenance because nobody's going to show up, and they're just going to make you feel like you're trash that comes from off the streets."
For almost two hours, scores of residents sounded off about mold problems, roof leaks, lax security and staff disrespect. Councilmen Nat Bates and Corky Boozé, who organized the meeting, said residents needed to be able to speak up about their problems without the fear of retaliation.
"It's been absolutely horrible to live here," resident Valerie Griffith said. "The mold, the mildew, the infestations of rodents - it's horrible. Not one single human being should be living here. This is an uninhabitable building."
City officials pledged immediate action, saying residents needed to be moved out of the building as soon as possible.
"This building should be bulldozed," Councilman Jael Myrick said to loud cheers from tenants. "We can't wait. The stories we're hearing are absolutely inexcusable and unacceptable. It should not have been allowed to persist for this long."
The meeting at Hacienda followed weeks of upheaval at City Hall after the Center for Investigative Reporting reported on conditions at Housing Authority developments as well as the agency's chronic mismanagement and mounting debt.
Listed among worst
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has classified Richmond's housing agency as one of the worst in the country since 2009. Numerous audits, both from HUD and the agency's independent auditors, have identified breakdowns in how the Housing Authority tracks its money, keeps its books and manages its staff.
HUD has labeled the agency's executive director as ineffective, questioned the credentials of the finance manager, and criticized the City Council as ill-informed.
Still, Richmond leaders said this week that they need an additional perspective on the agency. On Tuesday, the council voted to hire an independent investigator to audit the Housing Authority.
"We know we have problems, and we want to ensure that everything possible is done," said Mayor Gayle McLaughlin. "Our residents deserve more than outreach."
'Credibility problem'
City Manager Bill Lindsay added: "I don't like to say this, but within the staff we have a credibility problem."
Jackie Thompson, a public housing resident who sits on the Housing Authority's tenant advisory commission, said another audit isn't the answer.
"The problem is directing staff to be efficient and effective in what they do," Thompson said. "You're wasting money that can be used to fix the roaches."
Last month, the city hired a private contractor to inspect all of Richmond's public housing units and survey tenants about their needs. The Housing Authority's executive director, Tim Jones, declared Hacienda, the city's largest housing complex, "uninhabitable" and is weighing whether to move residents out of the six-story building near downtown. Meanwhile, residents continue to live there.
Jones also sent a note to his staff telling them to be courteous to residents.
Bates said the real problem is leadership at the Housing Authority. Much of the anger during the meeting was pointed at Jones and the asset operations manager, Kathleen Jones, who are not related.
"We need new management," Bates said. "I want a vote of no confidence for Tim Jones. And Mrs. Kathleen Jones ought to go, too. You cut off the heads of those two snakes, and you're going to find a lot of the employees coming forward and telling you what's going on."
Execs not present
Kathleen Jones deals day-to-day with tenant issues, including lease enforcement and rent collection. She did not respond to requests for comment and was not at Wednesday's meeting.
Tim Jones, who has blamed the problems on HUD for slashing public housing budgets, also did not attend.
This story was produced by the independent, nonprofit Center for Investigative Reporting, the country's largest investigative reporting team. For more, visit www.cironline.org. E-mail: aharris@cironline.org
Hacienda residents scold Richmond officials
By Daniel A. Nelson
12:47 am
March 7, 2014
Source CoCo Times
More than 75 Richmond residents chastised city officials Wednesday night about poor conditions at the Hacienda, one of the city’s most vexed public housing complexes.
Occupants complained about issues from leaky roofs to pest infestations during the meeting.
The meeting was called by Councilmen Nat Bates and Corky Boozé, with Vice Mayor Jovanka Beckles and City Councilman Jael Myrick also in attendance.
Myrick and other city officials promised to take action, and suggested residents move out of the building. Myrick told the residents:
“This situation is absolutely unacceptable. I am ready to vote to bulldoze this place tomorrow.”
The Center for Investigative Reporting described the housing authority as among the most troubled in the nation. It attributed these conditions to misuse of public funds, towering debt and poor staff performance at the six-story complex on Roosevelt Avenue.
Resident Dolores Johnson told the CoCo Times:
“There are no happy tenants here.”
Bedbugs were cited as one the major issues within the complex. Some residents lifted their shirts to expose bites to city officials.
Councilman Tom Butt was skeptical, saying he had recently visited the Hacienda complex. He published a report on his website criticizing CIR’s story, and thought conditions at the complex were better than reported.
The meeting instilled a new sense of urgency in the community, with the City Council scheduling a special meeting next week to discuss housing authority issues.
More at SFBay: http://sfbay.ca/2014/03/07/hacienda-residents-scold-richmond-officials/#ixzz2vI2aQ47m
Anger boils over at Richmond public housing meeting
KTVU.com Staff
richmond housing project pests
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RICHMOND: Public housing tenants complain about living conditions
By Amber Lee
RICHMOND, Calif. —
Emotions boiled over late Wednesday night at a meeting at the Hacienda, one of Richmond's most problematic public housing buildings.
Angry tenants complained of living with cockroaches, mice and other problems for too long and they say their calls for help have fallen on deaf ears.
City council members Corky Booze and Nat Bates organized the community meeting after hearing numerous complaints.
During one exchange, Booze asked a tenant – “How many cans of roach spray do you use a day?”
To which the woman replied -- "Three, four and sometimes five."
Another tenant complained -- "I still got roaches. I don’t ever get rid of them. They're everywhere."
City council members and Mayor Gayle Mclaughlin – who was in attendance -- said the information they gather from the meeting will be used at an upcoming special meeting.
"The big concern is that this thing is brought to our attention in February...early February,” Bates said. “Here it is March and we haven't done anything but talk, talk and talk."
Terrence Griffith, who says he's lived at the Hacienda for three years, complained that the elevators often don't work.
"I have prosthesis. I'm an amputee. I was placed on the second floor," Griffith said.
Another couple brought a collection of dead pests to the meeting.
"Those are the bed bugs and these are roaches ...this all came out of our bedroom," the couple told KTVU.
Residents tell KTVU the housing authority has sent in exterminators and tenants have been given mice traps but nothing has worked so far.
The inspections and short term cleanups ordered by the city manager were scheduled to be completed by Wednesday.
"We're still formulating plans based on the inspections right now," said city manager Bill Lindsey.
Many tenants demanded that the housing authority tear down the Hacienda and relocate the residents soon.
"I am angry. I am frustrated. I want to see some change," said Valerie Griffith.
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