A State of disrepair: Broken things, bugs part of daily life, tower tenants say

May 5—SHARON — Former State Towers resident Aaron Blomgren spent about three years on the streets in Arizona a few years ago, and he does not want to go back to that.

Blomgren was proud to have had his own apartment for four years, even if it was at State Towers, where the toilet was broken for eight months and copious am

ounts of paint were peeling off the ceiling and walls.

Water and gas services were shut off April 14 at State Towers, 632 E. State St., Sharon, due to non-payment of sewer bills and because of a faulty boiler that had been leaking gas for months. About 35 people were displaced from the seven-story building.

"As soon as the water got shut off, I was worried about how we were going to cook, and how we were going to use the bathroom," Blomgren said. "That was terrible."

Blomgren, like so many of his fellow State Towers residents, had nowhere to go seven days later when they were told they had to leave the building.

He was placed in a West Middlesex hotel with most of the State Towers residents. Blomgren does not drive and was afraid he was going to lose his job at Marco's Pizza in Sharon. But, luckily, the business is holding his job until he finds permanent housing.

Blomgren just signed on to stay two more weeks at the hotel while he works to get permanent housing.

"I heard a lot of places don't take people on probation and I still have a year and a half on probation," Blomgren said.

So his future is up in the air. Although he paid his rent for April, he left all of his belongings behind, and was forced to give away his cat.

One of the other former tenants, James Camp, has a similar story of turmoil.

Camp lived in State Towers for 13 years. He said the building was run professionally and courteously for years — until Joseph Fusco took over as the building manager.

Fusco denied allegations made by the residents and said he did his best to address tenants' concerns (see accompanying article).

Fusco was found liable for more than $3,000 in fines and court costs stemming from a hearing Monday alleging that he did not procure rental licenses. In court, several tenants testified that they perceived Fusco to be the landlord because he collected rent, he took complaints, and he evicted people.

Camp said building management performed pest control before Fusco started about five years ago.

"It just wasn't done on a regular basis, so it started mushrooming out of control," Camp said.

Camp said he called the building's owner about three months after Fusco started to complain of his incompetence, and the owner said she had faith in Fusco.

Camp said he had an ongoing water problem for about nine months that he alerted Fusco to on a regular basis.

"Eventually, he had three people attempt to fix it until he hired a plumber to fix it," Camp said.

Camp said Fusco gave him a water bill for $16,000 and stated that Camp was responsible for it because he neglected to inform Fusco of the problem.

Camp left his belongings behind in State Towers. He was moved to a hotel temporarily and just signed on to live in Vermeire Manor in Sharon, which is owned by the Mercer County Housing Authority.

"The water was shut off, and we just had to endure the situation and hope that everything was going to get resolved," Camp said. "Everything was kind of unknown what was going to happen after that."

Anna Martin understands Camp's experience because it matched her own.

Martin, who lived in State Towers for almost three years, said the State Towers building was beyond infested with cockroaches and bed bugs.

"I had to start over from scratch because I didn't want to carry the bugs into a new place," Martin said. "Even before I came to the hotel, I took the last of my dollars and washed my clothes at the laundromat to make sure I wasn't bringing anything with me."

Camp and Martin said more often than not, one could see the bugs crawling in the hallways and on the floors.

"Even if your apartment was spotless and you sprayed for them, they were still coming up out of the drains between the bathtub and sink," Martin said.

Martin said that she had a leaking toilet for six months before Fusco replaced it. And she was not allowed to put up handicap bars in her shower because Fusco called it destruction of property. So Anna's neighbor helped her in and out of the shower.

"When I asked him about the water situation, he bold-faced lied and said that he had it taken care of," Martin said.

Martin said the whole situation has been a lot harder than anyone understands.

Fusco and State Towers' owner Nancy Duker could face criminal repercussions. Mercer County District Attorney Peter C. Acker said his office is looking into some criminal aspects of the State Towers situation, but said he could not elaborate.

Martin has procured permanent housing at Pine Hollow Village in Sharon.

Tim Henry has not been as successful. He has his application in at Willow Village Apartments in Sharon and is waiting to see whether it has been accepted.

Henry lived in State Towers for five and a half years and said the cockroaches were there the entire time he lived there.

"That's one thing they didn't put on the application, that you have to live with roaches," Henry said. "You couldn't take a shower unless you wanted roaches in there. You have to wash your dishes twice before using them."

Henry said he also had a problem with his ceiling fan for two years that never got fixed. He said he had to bring lamps from the bedroom into the living room.

Henry stayed for five days with no water before being placed in a hotel.

Since he does not drive, Henry is relying on the kindness of others who have been donating food to tenants at the hotel. Additionally, he had stocked up on snacks before he left State Towers.

Fellow resident Mark Morris agreed that donations of food have been very helpful.

Morris and Henry discussed their food and money situation Tuesday evening.

Morris agreed that it's been hard getting food for himself and his 38-year-old mentally and physically handicapped daughter. He does not drive either. Henry said in addition to not driving, he cannot walk far because he has muscle spasms in his back and knee problems.

"It's a good thing I got a sub at 1:30," Henry said.

Morris and his daughter lived in State Towers for 15 months.

Morris said it was really tough for them with no water.

"First the water got shut off, then the heat went, then the water altogether went," Morris said. "Then I heard people say it was getting better but it didn't. That's why everybody paid rent."

Morris, who was placed temporarily in the hotel, said he feels he got lucky because of the Emergency Rental Assistance Program.

ERAP is a federally funded COVID pandemic relief program administered by the Shenango Valley Urban League to help renters pay rent and utilities. ERAP funds were used to place 26 State Towers families into the hotel while they try to arrange for permanent housing.

Morris said that has not been easy. He has not procured permanent housing yet.

"It was hard," Morris said. "I'm with my daughter. We didn't have identification or Social Security cards. Some places won't even take an application if you don't have it."

He added that his money situation is difficult right now because he had to rent a storage unit and pay people to move them.

"Things cost a lot," Morris said. "You've got to get your own food daily. Just for subs alone for me and my daughter, it was 20-some dollars."

Martin said the majority of the tenants need permanent housing. She said county agencies are helping, but some have special circumstances and she is worried for them.

"Some can't get into housing because they owe past due money. There's a whole lot of different avenues," Morris said. "Some are trying to stay in their grandkids' school district. I don't know what they're going to do when ERAP and the urban league run out of funds."

Martin said some tenants don't have birth certificates or identification.

"We try to be there and we try to support each other, but some just don't know what to do," Martin said.

Martin said she has been speaking up and will even have her photograph taken to bring awareness to what is happening to the residents of State Towers.

"That was because we were all fighting the same battle. Somebody had to speak up," Martin said. "I just wish that they would give us some sort of justice because right now we don't have any."

Follow Melissa Klaric on twitter @HeraldKlaric or email her at mklaric@sharonherald.com

Follow Melissa Klaric on twitter @HeraldKlaric or email her at mklaric@sharonherald.com