About two hundred housing community residents filled the Legislative Chambers Wednesday night to tell senators and Housing officials of the miseries they have endured living in public housing.
Denise Ruan-Todman, vice president of the Contant Knolls Tenant Council, had a list of complaints about the relatively new community ranging from lack of meaningful security to the absence screen doors on the units and lack of adequate play areas for children. Todman said the two Housing Police officers assigned to her area work Monday through Friday and leave at 5 p.m. She described the stress caused by routine gunfire late at night coming from a nearby nightclub coupled with a missing streetlight she has attempted to have replaced.
Ingrid Leslie described living in a trailer at Paul M. Pearson Gardens that has split in half.
The hearing was called by Sen. Celestino A. White Sr., chairman of the Housing, Parks and Recreation committee. White has long been known as a champion of public housing residents and he promised to continue the process of empowering the tenants. He also reiterated his promise to mobilize the tenants as a major voting bloc for the next gubernatorial election.
The 20 tenants testifying called for help from the senate and Housing officials for everything from relief from infestations from rats, roaches and pigeons to assistance with home ownership.
Ninety-one-year-old Elita Ford Blyden of Oswald Harris Court said after 40 years in public housing her greatest wish was to be able to buy her home.
Metrisebel Williams, also a Pollyberg resident did by her house, but said she was not told the water would be cut off after she purchased her home and now she is left to "buy water, buy water, always buying water."
Other tenants expressed concern over living with asbestos, but were assured by Conrad E. Francois, executive director of the V.I. Housing Authority, that the asbestos was not "friable," meaning broken up. Not everyone was convinced, however. Sen. Norma Pickard-Samuel asked Francois if he could guarantee no tiles were broken while tenants still resided at the Donoe project, which is being demolished. He couldn't. He also said Bovoni and Nadir housing units also contain asbestos, but that it was being "abated."
Francois, Iran Hobson, Housing Parks, and Recreation commissioner, and Housing Finance Authority Executive Director Claude V. Richards took turns citing severe lack of funds as the major cause of the problems facing their agencies and thus the tenants. Communication break-downs between lower level management and officials was also named as a problem.
Francois said he "repeatedly came before the Legislature asking for money to complete the Tutu Hi-Rise and Donoe projects."
He also said because the Federal Emergency Management Authority failed to reimburse $4.2 million for the Nazareth temporary housing built after Hurricane Marilyn, he was forced to take a commercial loan. To add to the woes, he said at any given time he is carrying up to $3 million in accounts payable to the Water and Power Authority.
Hobson maintained he has always been available to the tenants, saying every Christmas he personally visits every tenant under his purview. However, under the consolidation of the three agencies, which was part of the Omnibus Act of 2000, Hobson said his tenants would come under the auspices of the new authority pointing out this could mean a substantial increase in rents. Currently tenants in community housing pay from $75 a month for an efficiency apartment to $300 a month for a four bedroom.
The ceiling on rent for the federally subsidized housing managed by VIHA took a big hike a year ago – up to 30 percent of a residents income – under the federally mandated Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998. Richards took his turn painting a picture of an agency, charged with building and managing low- and middle-income housing in the territory, which has continued to function though it has had no meaningful appropriations from the government in years. He said lack of funds for infrastructure was holding up projects. He also painted a bleak picture of the potential for affordable housing on St. John, due to the high cost of construction on that island. He said the lowest bid received to build one home was $162,000. The federal subsidy on that would be $80,000.
Senators began to take their turns at questioning around 10:30 p.m., using most of their five minutes each to describe how they were going to solve the problems of the tenants and railing against the housing officials.
Committee members in attendance were: Sens. White, Alicia "Chucky" Hansen, Carlton Dowe, Emmett Hansen, II , David S. Jones and Samuel. Sen. Lorraine Berry, also a member of the committee was not there, which was noted verbally by White.
Sen. Donald "Ducks" Cole, who served on the Housing committee in the 23rd Legislature was also in attendance.
The hearing ended well after midnight.
