Housing overhaul

Mushrooms sprouting from the ceiling. Rickety stairways. Mold growing in the bathroom.

These are some of the conditions a building inspector found recently at the North Las Vegas Housing Authority's Casa Rosa public housing community for poor families.

The city has ordered the housing authority to either repair or demolish many of its decades-old family units in the coming weeks because they are unsafe.

Nearly two dozen of the 76 families living at Casa Rosa, near Las Vegas Boulevard North and Owens Avenue, must immediately move out because of unsanitary conditions caused by water or sewage that has been leaking for an undetermined length of time, officials said.

"It's a real mess," said North Las Vegas City Councilman William Robinson, who also is the long-time chairman of the housing authority board. "It's frustrating as hell. There's no excuse for this."

Those residents likely will be housed at an extended-stay hotel until repairs can be made.

The conditions came to light after the Las Vegas Housing Authority, which recently took over management of North Las Vegas' public housing, contacted the city with concerns.

Carl Rowe, director of the Las Vegas agency, said his staff completed a unit by unit inspection of North Las Vegas' public housing.

"What we found (at Casa Rosa) was so alarming, I called the city's building inspectors," Rowe said. "This was years and years of neglect. We're mystified as to why something wasn't done years ago."

The Las Vegas agency was contracted to manage North Las Vegas's properties after federal authorities found the smaller city's housing authority to be incompetently managed, said a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

North Las Vegas City Manager Gregory Rose said code violations were found in 57 of Casa Rosa's 100 units.

Violations included failing stairways, unsafe second story landings, rotting rafters, broken windows and wiring problems.

"I hope they tear the whole thing down. It sucks," said Waytasha Washington, 31, a single mother of five who lives in a four bedroom unit.

The stairway to Washington's second story is in need of repair, she said. Worse are her electrical problems.

"The electrical box sparks," she said. "It's dangerous."

Stephanie Williams, a 26-year-old resident, said the lock on her door has been broken for some time, and there are cracks and rust stains in her tub. She gave up calling unit managers with complaints.

"I don't call them anymore. They don't do anything."

Larry Bush, a HUD spokesman, said unsafe conditions found at Casa Rosa are "exactly the kind of issue that has us deeply concerned about the North Las Vegas Housing Authority and its failure to properly manage its properties and to serve the vulnerable populations housed there."

He wouldn't say what, if any, sanctions the agency would face because of the substandard conditions.

In recent years, the North Las Vegas agency has run into financial and administrative problems and has been labeled a "troubled" agency by HUD.

A HUD audit released last year found that the agency didn't use $4.4 million in public money that was supposed to be spent to house needy people.

The agency also has had to deal with high staff turnover and federal funding cuts, which are more difficult for smaller agencies to absorb.

"It has been a nightmare for many, many years," Robinson said.

HUD also has criticized the agency for the make-up of its board. Four of the five board members also serve on the city council, including North Las Vegas Mayor Michael Montandon and council members Stephanie Smith and Robert Eliason.

Robinson said he became aware of the Casa Rosa problems only recently because housing authority administrators have "been masking it from me."

Don England, director of the North Las Vegas Housing Authority, blamed inadequate funding for the problems. Shrinking federal funding has made it more difficult to keep up, he said.

"We repair what we can repair. You just bend until you don't have any more to spend, and then you stop."

Robinson wouldn't say whether anyone at the housing authority will be punished for not bringing Casa Rosa's problems to his attention earlier.

The housing authority held a special Thursday meeting to declare an "emergency for the immediate relocation" of the families in 21 units found to be unsafe because of leaks. England said he hopes to have the families moved by next week.

About two dozen residents showed up at the meeting, many to talk about long-term problems they've endured while living at Casa Rosa.

"We're tired of it and it's not fair," said 33-year-old Linnette Clark, a single mother of four. "My kids are taking baths in peeling tubs."

Smith said she was surprised and "very distressed" about the situation. "I think it's shameful that we have to find out in this manner," she said.

England said the 21 units will be repaired once they are evacuated.

No one was sure how much that would cost. Nor did they know how they will pay for either repair or demolition of the other units, or for the relocation of families.

But Robinson, Rose and Montandon acknowledged that the city might have to chip in financially.

The fate of the Casa Rosa complex must be decided soon. In letters sent late last month, the city's public works department gave the housing authority 30 days to begin repairing or demolishing many of the units.

City officials on Thursday backed away somewhat from that deadline, saying extensions would be granted if progress was being made. The agency also may appeal the orders.

The North Las Vegas agency, with a budget of about $13 million, is the smallest of the valley's three public housing agencies, which include the Las Vegas and Clark County housing authorities.

In addition to being responsible for 220 public housing units, the North Las Vegas agency oversees about 1,400 Section 8 housing vouchers, which can be used to rent housing.

Bush said the agency's problems have been going on far too long. "The ones who have suffered while this dancing away from responsibility takes place are the tenants and taxpayers who expect money provided to (the housing authority) to be well managed."

Asked why HUD hasn't taken over or closed the agency, Bush said "there is a due process" that protects it. "It requires us to give them time to appeal and address problems. The federal process is a time consuming one."

Public housing tenants are caught in the middle of it all, Rowe said. "Poor people have no voice. It's easy to ignore them and their needs."

Contact reporter Lynnette Curtis at lcurtis@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0285.