Bradenton Housing Authority hopes to resolve complaints about Bradenton Village Apartments

BRADENTON -- Bradenton Housing Authority officials Thursday expressed hope complaints about living conditions and management bullying from public housing residents at the Bradenton Village Apartments will soon be resolved with an anticipated code enforcement inspection and a visit next month by Telesis Corp. President Marilyn Melkonian.

Bradenton Village, at First Street at 13th Avenue West, is owned by Telesis, based in Washington, D.C., and managed by one of its subsidiaries, Neighborhood Partners LLC, headquartered in Maryland.

Complaints include mold and mildew, leaky roofs, an unresponsive management company and even bullying tactics by the property manager, who some accuse of illegal lockouts and forced evictions after verbal agreements were made to pay rent late.

City officials said construction materials used at

the complex are partly to blame for the structural issues. Though the materials were approved in 2003, Planning and Community Director Tim Polk said in January the contractor should have known better than to construct wooden roofs for a complex that size.

BHA Commissioner Rigo Rivera on Thursday backed up those claims, as well as resident complaints about living conditions.

"I've seen the complaints firsthand and they are legitimate," he said. "I think it had a lot to do with the quality of construction and sub-quality products that were used. There are leaky windows and bowing wood and the bottom line is that (Telesis) needs to step it up and be clear to us what the problems are, whether it's a construction problem, a maintenance problem or poor care from the tenants. But these buildings are not aging gracefully."

The BHA has no authority at the complex. A contract agreed to in 2003 gives management control to a private company, even though about half the residents receive public assistance. Those residents have made complaints to the BHA, but the contract ties the agency's hands.

BHA Executive Director Ellis Mitchell Jr. reiterated Thursday the development conceived under former BHA leadership is a "bad deal. This whole thing is getting out of control and I wish this deal hadn't been made."

Charles Tini, with Neighborhood Partners, denied accusations of substandard living conditions and management bullying, although he told the Herald earlier this month there have been "five or six times over the last eight years where there have been leaks. We corrected those using a roofing company and there is no evidence of failing roofs."

The city Code Enforcement Department is planning a series of new inspections. The complex has not been inspected by the city since 2011, which was actually a reinspection of some 160 code violations cited in 2009. The 2011 re-inspection found more than 120 violations had not been resolved.

Code enforcement halted the quasi-judicial violation hearings in 2011, in favor of a four-year agreement with the management company to bring the property into compliance.

That agreement expired at the end of 2014 and Code Compliance Manager Volker Reiss said earlier this month a new sweep would begin soon.

Tini said he is confident that the city will be satisfied with the work done to resolve the violations. He also denied accusations of management bullying, but acknowledged the importance of resident perception.

Telesis is hiring a community organizer to "take the temperature of everyone to find out not what we think they need, but what they think they need," Tini said.

Tini said if complaints reach his office, "Our goal is to act immediately." Residents with complaints or concerns can call 240-554-6500, he said.

Complaints also can be filed with the city at 941-932-9485.

Mark Young, Herald urban affairs reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7041 or follow him on Twitter @urbanmark2014.

This story was originally published February 19, 2015 at 5:17 PM with the headline "Bradenton Housing Authority hopes to resolve complaints about Bradenton Village Apartments ."