A.G. Gancarski
Jacksonville’s 400 Unit HUD-funded apartment complex, Eureka Gardens, was one of those things that mysteriously flew below the radar until recently.
Even though Jacksonville’s City Council spotlighted the horrific conditions at the complex, going so far as to pass a resolution urging HUD to defund it, the complex’s issues remained.
The solutions discussed included adding security to mitigate the crime issue.
A candidate for sheriff, Ken Jefferson, did a sleepover on the grounds in an RV.
Of course, he didn’t sleep in one of the units. And in the sense of deferred action, it’s a shame that he didn’t.
He could have gotten a few months lead on the issues uncovered, thus far, in the code inspections performed by the city of Jacksonville.
Of the 163 units the city was able to inspect, the issues are rampant, as a mammoth PDF file containing all of the problems indicates.
“Deteriorated, damaged, or leaking” kitchen faucets and bathroom sinks. Debonding ceiling finish materials. Missing electrical plates. Ceilings: some sagging, some with holes in them, some buckling from plumbing problems upstairs.
Windows that can’t be “secured in place.” Windows that don’t open or close. Refrigerators in “poor working condition or unsafe.” Exterior door hardware “in poor working condition and/or is missing.”
Damaged interior doors and floors. “Unsanitary or unsafe” kitchen cabinets. Damaged or “unsanitary” bathtubs or showers.
Damaged or improperly installed wiring and dysfunctional smoke detectors; always a good combination. Leaky pipes and cracked toilets; toilets in “poor working condition or nonexistent.” Doors without frames. Stoves that don’t work.
Roach infestations. Broken windows. Clogged sewer lines.
And so on.
Virtually everything that could be cited in an apartment made it into these reports. The bulk of apartments inspected had three to five of these violations. Some had up to fourteen.
In response to these issues, Congresswoman Corrine Brown has been in Jacksonville, galvanizing federal and local stakeholders to take immediate action on Eureka Gardens and other complexes.
“Along with partners in the City of Jacksonville, the Jacksonville City Council, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), we are all working diligently together to dramatically improve the environmental, safety and sanitary conditions at Eureka Gardens,” Brown said in a statement late Tuesday.
“This is a perfect example of how positive results can be attained when local, city and federal partners combine their efforts and work together as a team. Today, we conducted a preliminary meeting and HUD will be meeting with Jacksonville Mayor Curry and City of Jacksonville local officials to discuss further improvement plans.” Brown added.
The goal, said Brown, is “safe, secure, and livable housing for all the residents of Jacksonville. Although we have had problems at Eureka Gardens in the past, the various local and federal government branches are working on a solution, and as I always say, failure is not an option! Additionally, moving forward, there will be 100% inspections not only at Eureka Gardens, but also at two other HUD subsidized properties per my request, Cleveland Arms and Washington Heights.”
The commitment to what Brown calls “100% inspections” was echoed by the local HUD field rep in conversation with this reporter on Tuesday afternoon.
A spokesperson for Jacksonville mayor Lenny Curry told FloridaPolitics.com that there would be a follow-up meeting at City Hall today between the mayor and stakeholders. We await comment from the Curry administration on that meeting, and the action plan going forward.
However, what is clear is this: something will have to be done. Both for the human rights of those in the three complexes Congresswoman Brown referred to, and for the future of the city itself.
When children are raised in conditions such as those as the residents of these 400 units have endured, it raises existential questions.
Among them: how are the children to have hope for their futures going forward?
