Residents air Heritage House frustrations to manager 

One by one, residents of Heritage House Apartments stood and directed their concerns about the building and living conditions across the meeting room, in one direction. 

To a round table, where Jeffrey Richards, president and CEO of Pacific Management Inc., looked on contemplatively, wrote notes and occasionally responded to concerns verbally. He was flanked by Oak Park Village Trustee Jim Taglia. Tina Brown, Oak Park’s code compliance manager, sat across from Richards, taking her own notes. 

Up front, Irma Baker, president of the residents’ council, calmed the 75-strong crowd when it seemed as if the discussion might stray from calm professionalism. Behind her the Rev. Kenneth Holmes, who opened the meeting with prayer, looked as if he was still praying. 

“For me personally, I live on the first floor,” resident Patty Davis said. “I’ve seen infestation of mice. It’s terrible. This past week, I had to live with the odor of dead mice in my kitchen. 

“It’s chronic and it’s getting worse.” 

Over the space of about an hour, the concerns rolled in from the elderly residents. Filthy floors. Rats and bedbugs. Inadequate garbage dumpsters. Outsiders entering the building unfettered, with some sleeping in the hallways. Not enough maintenance personnel. Lax building security. Drug use. 

And with all that, one common thread: Substandard management. 

Taken together, it might seem as if those issues were unsurmountable for the 200-unit, HUD subsidized building at 201 Lake St. Are they fixable? 

“These are issues that I really have to ponder the best way to move forward with,” Richards said. “I think they are.” 

Taglia thinks so too, but with a caveat. 

“Everything is fixable with money,” he said. “This is a matter of how much money do they need to, and want to, invest? Everything in this building can be fixed.  

“It’s a matter of how much you want to invest in this building.” 

Substantial issues 

Make no mistake, though. The issues, particularly related to personal safety, were glaring. 

“I want to speak on security, and the lack thereof,” said resident Tera Brewer. “Most of the time the security is gone at 9 a.m. and from nine to five, when you come in that front door, it’s always somebody pushing in past you.” 

“We have one security guard that does his job. The rest just sit. They come in, they clock in, they go get their lunch, then they sit there and eat and look at their phone. And they don’t move until it’s time to get off work.” 

Baker built on those sentiments. 

“I can attest to what she’s saying,” she said. “That is true. When people come, if they buzz the people’s bell to get in, they buzz them, other people from the outside, they come past them in and go wherever.” 

Resident Charles Smith moved to Heritage House in February after being on a four-year wait list.  

“Since I’ve been here, I’ve been disappointed in management,” Smith said. “The problem is, they’re not doing their job, number one. In the back, since this is a senior building, there’s supposed to be a long dumpster out there, because people die, and they have to throw the trash out. 

“Everything in this building is messed up. It’s the people you hired. So get it together.” 

After about a half hour, Richards spoke. 

“I understand this is everybody’s home. I get it,” he said. “So what I can do is, hearing this, it gives me the ability to understand certain things better, from your perspective, and then to see how to address that.” 

No more warnings; citations only 

Brown reassured the residents that Oak Park’s village government is doing everything it can to address the situation. 

“I just wanted to let you guys know that we do hear you, and we serve as advocates for residents when property maintenance issues are not being resolved,” Brown said. “We do regular properly maintenance inspections for multi-family buildings.” 

That typically includes inspecting one-third of units plus the common areas, Brown said.  

“A couple of years ago, we (inspected) this building but due to the number of complaints, we did not do a third, which would be about 66; we did all the units,” she said, adding there were “about (400) to 500 violations.” 

After those were addressed, she said, things quieted down for about a year, but then many of the same issues are now resurfacing and being brought to the village’s attention by Taglia among others. 

“As a result of the number of complaints that we’re receiving now, we have issued citations,” she said. “We’ve issued seven citations.” 

And more could be coming. Brown said from here on out the village will not issue warnings anymore, but citations that could include fines that range from $20 to $750. Those amounts are determined by the village’s office of adjudication, and she invited residents to a July 23 open hearing where residents can speak on their behalf regarding those seven current citations. 

For her part, Baker was proud of the contingent of residents that came out and spoke so frankly. 

“There were people here who had never been to a meeting before,” she said.  

Once again, are the issues at Heritage House fixable? 

“I think so,” Baker said. “They are fixable problems. They could be done. 

“And this building could be just as beautiful as it was when I first moved in.” 

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