As far as Irma Baker is concerned, yes, progress regarding living conditions at Heritage House has been made.
The question for her, though, is how long will that last?
“Are they going to keep it up?” said Baker, president of the residents’ council, when speaking of Pacific Management, the property management company which oversees the senior housing midrise. “They shouldn’t have to be told to do stuff when they know it has to be done.”
The property management firm wound up July 23 in Oak Park’s adjudication court after previously receiving 10 citations from the village government for substandard conditions in the building. Village officials said all 10 issues have been resolved. Management received a small fine for each citation.
Heritage House, 201 Lake St., was constructed in 1978, and is owned by Heritage House Associates LLC with Wellness America the managing member. It is a United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Section 8 rental subsidized property. Put simply, residents pay 30% of their rent and HUD pays the remainder.
It has been plagued for years by issues like filthy floors, rats and bedbugs, inadequate garbage dumpsters and other matters, including outsiders entering the building unfettered.
It got so troubled that the village of Oak Park began issuing citations this spring for violations, instead of the usual warnings. On July 23, 10 total citations were addressed by the village’s office of adjudication and Judge Gilbert J. Grossi.
The issues in all 10 citations, ranging from the temperature in one apartment to the non-installation of an exterior door key fob to inadequate garbage pickup, were found to now be in compliance with village code.
Still, Pacific Management was assessed a $50 fine by Grossi for each citation.
“At the time when the citations were written, they were not in compliance,” said village building inspector Gabriel Ponce, who visited Heritage House Thursday morning. “That’s why they got the $50 fines. Had they not been in compliance today, I’m sure the fines would have gone up.”
Baker said things started happening when she met with a HUD official that hired a temp agency to clean the building, which went very well. She also said she thought the result of Thursday’s hearing was fair. But maintaining that going forward will be the ultimate litmus test.
“They fixed everything that the inspection said was going on,” Baker said., adding that all will improve “if they can continue to keep the building clean and keep people from coming in and out that don’t live there, just doing stuff that shouldn’t be done.”
Onsite building manager Tommie Brown declined comment after Thursday’s adjudication, but Pacific Management attorney Jeffrey Gilbert pointed to the positive.
“I think they got property into compliance and fixed the problems (and did) what needed to be done,” he said.
Jeffrey Richards, president and CEO of Pacific Management, was not in attendance Thursday. He did attend a June 2 residents meeting and fielded questions and concerns about the state of the 14-floor building, which features an atrium with a skylight and two sets of entry doors.
Based on a Wednesday Journal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, the village confirmed that no new citations were issued after that June 2 meeting.
“We have gone out and we have visited the property, but we have not found anything that we’ve actually had to write a ticket about,” said Jonathan Burch, assistant village manager and neighborhood services director.
Meanwhile, Baker said she’s not had any discussion with Brown about conditions.
“She did bring HUD to my house, to my apartment, and I spoke to them,” she said. “I did most of the talking. I told him how the building was when I first moved there, and how it is now, and how all of us would like for it to be back. I told him I was concerned about the protection of the building and the cleanliness of the building.”