Milwaukee tenants air complaints about public housing
When Roye “Chris” Logan moved into the Mitchell Court apartment complex in 2013, she considered it her home.
The building, she said, was beautiful, and the relationship between management and the tenants was warm.
Then, three years ago, things changed at the complex at 2600 W. National Ave. Maintenance declined, she said, and residents felt unsafe.
Logan is not alone in her feelings. Other residents have complained about Mitchell Court and other public housing units, with allegations including a lack of disability accommodations; maintenance problems that left them sick from mold, and pest and rodent infestations.
In a statement to the Journal Sentinel, the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee said it was “aware of some of the issues and allegations (and) have been working aggressively to resolve them.”
Residents have banded together and solicited the aid of the activist organization Common Ground to try and force HACM to address their concerns.
Kevin Solomon, an associate organizer at Common Ground, said HACM has failed to adequately address a “very consistent pattern of neglect and unacceptable conditions.”
'I don't feel safe anymore'
Logan, who grew up in public housing, said she remembered when management would give tenants grass seed so they could keep the property well-groomed.
These days, Logan said, she has started carrying a knife due to the security threats she has observed around the building, such as people loitering and sticks propping open the door so it can be opened without a keycard.
“We would find people sleeping in the hallway and the stairwell,” Logan said. “We have people who come through the door after us. We don’t know who they are or what they’re about.”
Logan said she has even found hypodermic needles in the building.
According to an email from Angel Rodriguez, HACM's chief of public safety, there were 125 calls for service during a recent 90-day period near Mitchell Court. Maps from the Milwaukee Police Department indicate that robbery, theft and aggravated assault are the most common crimes in the Mitchell Park-Clarke Square neighborhoods near Mitchell Court.
More:Renting in Milwaukee? Here are some things you need to know.
HACM said it has hired security staff, requested increased patrols from the Milwaukee Police Department and added cameras around properties. The agency also said it works with residents to address concerns, evicting those it finds involved in criminal activity.
However, the agency noted federal funding for public safety services was cut 20 years ago and has not been replenished.
A frustrated Logan organized a meeting with Housing Authority President Willie Hines, Vice President of Asset Management Greg Anderson and Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman in October. She also invited Solomon.
“I just told them straight out: This is not what this building is about. Just because we’re elderly and low-income does not mean we deserve disrespect,” she said. “We deserve fair housing.”
According to some residents, security concerns remain an issue in other public housing buildings.
More:BMO Harris devotes $1 million to grant program for aspiring homeowners
Since moving to Westlawn Gardens at 5555 N. 62nd St. in 2020, 62-year-old Florence Riley said the building’s doors pose a security risk.
Although they require a keycard to open, they take so long to close, she said, nonresidents follow behind residents in a practice known as “tailgating.”
She said it’s not uncommon for her and others to find strangers sleeping in the lobby area downstairs.
“When I first moved here, I felt safe,” she said. “Now, I don’t feel safe anymore.”
Those with disabilities face greater challenges at home
Patricia Jackson, a tenant at Mitchell Court, said she has been waiting five years to be relocated to a disability-accommodating building but has been told none are open.
In its statement, HACM said, “Residents with disabilities are valued members of our communities” but that there are limited accessible units available due to the aging housing stock in the public portfolio.
Wheelchair-bound, Jackson was left paralyzed when a stray bullet struck her spine in 1992. She left Jackson, Mississippi, to move to Mitchell Court – a move the 63-year-old now says she regrets.
Jackson uses a spoon to turn on her faucet because she can't reach the handle from her wheelchair. She must sit next to the stove to use the stovetop.
“I can’t get to nothing,” she said. “If I want something out of my fridge, my kids have to get it.”
She said she hasn’t cooked in her kitchen in years, and the wall is marked with scuffs from trying to squeeze her wheelchair in the small space.
HACM said it expects “all staff to provide excellent customer service” and takes complaints very seriously. HACM declined to make the complex’s manager available for comment.
Robert “Big Bubba” Hacker, a 53-year-old who is missing part of his leg and requires a wheelchair for mobility, lives at Lincoln Court, 2325 S. Howell Ave. He said that when he and other tenants requested a fence be erected around the building for security purposes, management instead put a locked gate on the inside of the building near the back entrance.
“That’s the disabled entrance,” he said. Now, getting his wheelchair and groceries has become much more difficult.
He also said management has failed to have the sidewalks cleared of snow and that managers regularly park their cars between the back door and the dumpsters. Hacker said he and other residents with disabilities trying to take their trash out struggle to maneuver around the vehicles.
When residents appeal to HACM for help, they are often referred to property managers.
One email reviewed by the Journal Sentinel, written by Hines, the Housing Authority president, to Logan, states: “As it pertains to rodents, security and maintenance items, I would encourage you and other residents to call the appropriate management office, so a work order can be executed, or a response can be given.”
Residents fear reprisals if they report problems
Nancy Delatorre, a Lincoln Court tenant, said mold developed in her bathroom due to a leak from the neighbors above. Instead of fixing the issue, she said, maintenance painted over it. Since then, she said, she has developed a persistent sinus infection.
“I have to have fans going because I can't breathe," Delatorre said. "It was all black, and (maintenance) has been in and out, but they've been covering it up."
HACM said it "relies on residents to submit work orders to address issues when they arise."
Although Delatorre wanted to call city inspectors, she said she worried she could be evicted.
Delatorre, 58, was a certified nursing assistant before a mental illness and bad luck forced her to take a life detour. Two years ago, Delatorre said a car ran a red light and hit her while she was wheeling groceries across the street.
Delatorre credits the cart she was pushing for saving her life. But her pelvis, hip and half of one leg are all metal, and she is now forced to use a wheelchair. She is often helped by her caretaker aunt, Carolin Mullins, who also lives in the building.
Because the office is open so few days a week, and all guests require an escort, those with mobility issues often have trouble receiving their in-home care from nurses and caretakers.
“They ain't got no system where you can buzz people in," she said. "They tell me I have to come down, but I don't want to come down when I'm in too much pain."
More:Tenants of a Shorewood apartment say downed elevators left them stranded during the holidays
One time when her aunt wasn't around, Delatorre said she was forced to spend two days in a dirty diaper because she couldn’t let an aide in.
It’s why Delatorre says HACM should have put tenants with disabilities on the second floor.
But she said telling management does more harm than good.
“You can't say nothing to them because they'll get upset," Delatorre said. "I don't even come out of my apartment. I'm afraid I'm going to get thrown out if I do."
Hacker said plumbing issues, unreliable garbage chute maintenance, a roach and bedbug infestation and electrical boxes that do not align with the fuse boxes are just a few examples of the maintenance that needs to be done.
Despite being fairly new, one building at Westlawn Gardens has a mouse infestation, according to residents. At another, an HVAC system that has been linked to heating and cooling issues.
HACM said its properties are inspected annually, and the agency conducts "pest control within the resources available through in-house staff who can most efficiently and cost-effectively provide services." HACM also described pest control as a "partnership" with residents, who, they say, "play a lead role in proper disposal of trash, upkeep of housing units, and preparation of units for pest control treatment."
HACM did not respond in its statement about the guest escort policies or its impact on people with disabilities.
‘It’s all about the money’
In its statement, HACM said, “Providing excellent service to the over 10,000 households that the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee (HACM) serves is our highest and greatest concern.”
HACM said it has experienced “inadequate funding for operations and maintenance, capital repairs and improvements, public safety, and supportive services” for several decades.
Florence Riley said she is tired of hearing excuses from HACM explaining why things cannot be fixed. “They don’t have money for security. They don’t have money for pest control. So what the hell y’all doing with our money?”
“When something breaks, they don’t fix it,” she said. “That’s how it gets bad.”
Riley said she fears that Westlawn Gardens, despite being so new, will eventually come to resemble the old buildings it replaced – poorly maintained drug dens where residents were regularly subjected to violence and crime.
Last year, a group of residents voiced their concerns before a crowd of 200 at a meeting at the Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church.
They asked Common Ground members if they would support them, and Common Ground said yes.
Solomon said the organization has interviewed more than 1,000 public housing residents across nearly a dozen and a half properties, leading them to compile a list of demands they presented to HACM on behalf of residents, which included:
Investing $75 million in maintenance over the next two years;
Hiring a third-party pest control company to develop extermination plans;
Implementing a new public safety plan to reduce crime and exposure to crime; and
Creating a position that would be responsible for investigating complaints
Common Ground sent Hines a letter and a deadline to meet those demands. He didn’t. On Sunday, the group announced a public campaign to meet tenants’ demands.
Logan said she would move out of HACM properties if she had the means. That's why she has thrown herself into organizing and working with Common Ground in the hopes that conditions improve.
But she believes it will take a major culture change.
“With HACM, it’s all about the money,” she said. “It’s more about the money than the people.”
About Public Investigator
Government corruption. Corporate wrongdoing. Consumer complaints. Medical scams. Public Investigator is a new initiative of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and its sister newsrooms across Wisconsin. Our team wants to hear your tips, chase the leads and uncover the truth. We'll investigate anywhere in Wisconsin. Send your tips to watchdog@journalsentinel.com or Signal at 414-319-9061. You can also submit tips at jsonline.com/tips.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee tenants air complaints about public housing
