Carmella Holloway has lived at College Court, a public housing property in the city of Milwaukee, for 18 years.
But for the past few years, she said she’s had to deal with bed bugs in her apartment.
“This morning, I picked one out of my ear,” Holloway said during a press conference Wednesday. “I should not have to live like this.”
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The issue is the focus of a new class-action lawsuit against the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee, which manages the building. The lawsuit said residents of the property have suffered through an “endemic infestation of bedbugs and rodents for far too long.”
Over 2,000 work order requests were submitted by residents of the complex in the last five years for “pest control” issues, according to a document provided to WPR. Many of those orders calls list a “completed date.”
The lawsuit calls for the housing authority “to swiftly address the pervasive problem, or for the Court to order rent abatement consistent with State law.”
Holloway said she’s been bitten by the bugs.
“For months, I’ve been scratching at bites on my arms and legs,” she said.
The lawsuit is the latest action against the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee, which operates more than 5,200 units across the city.
Over the last few years residents have banded together to raise concerns about what they say are unsafe living conditions. Residents who spoke to WPR complained about security issues and said maintenance problems in their units aren’t being taken care of.
Common Ground, a grassroots activist group, has helped organize recent actions. Kevin Solomon is with the group. He said many of the residents of the properties are people of color, low-income, senior citizens and disabled adults.
A statement from Common Ground said the lawsuit represents a “significant escalation” against the housing authority.
Residents and organizers with Common Ground are calling for the removal of Willie Hines, the secretary-executive director of the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee. Hines is a former alder and former president of the Milwaukee Common Council.
The lawsuit said residents have emailed Hines about the bed bugs at College Court a total of five times since March, but have received no response.
“The buck starts and stops with the executive director of an organization, period,” Solomon told WPR Wednesday.
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson responded to the lawsuit after a press conference Wednesday.
“We’ll let that system … that process play itself out in court,” Johnson said.
Regarding Hines, Johnson said, “I think that we’re moving forward in a positive way, over at the housing authority.”
A spokesperson for the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee said the agency serves over 15,000 residents in the city.
“We are aware of issues raised by residents, many of which have been resolved, and others that we have been actively working to address with the resources we have available,” the spokesperson said in an email. “We continue to encourage residents to contact their property management office with any concerns, and HACM will address those matters.”
Residents raise concerns about rats, safety
Bonnie Cooper lives at the Hillside Terrace High Rise with her 3-month-old daughter. She said she’s dealing with a leaking sink and windows that don’t stay open. She said other residents face similar issues.
“We want to be able to have a safe, livable building,” Cooper said. “We want to be able to have our concerns met and addressed in a timely manner.”
Cooper said she’s tried to make appointments for maintenance to come fix the issues for over a year. She’s missed doctor’s appointments waiting for them to come.
With a leaky sink, she’s concerned she could slip and fall if it gets any worse.
“I have a small child,” Cooper said. “There’s nobody else in the home but me and her. I mean, she can’t go get help for me, so that scares me the most.”
Cooper said she got involved with Common Ground to find solutions to the issues she and others are facing across the city.
“When is something going to be done?” Cooper said. “When is our concerns going to be addressed? When is this building going to be fixed?”
William Harrell, 70, has lived in Milwaukee most of his life. He now lives in the Lapham Park apartment complex, which is for older and disabled adults.
“There’s rats running rampant all through the parking lot and all night,” Harrell said. “I mean, as soon as it’s sundown, the rats come out. People can’t even sit outside in the evening on the patios due to the rats and infestation.”
Harrell said he doesn’t feel safe in the building most days and wants security to be improved. He also said bed bugs and roaches are plaguing residents, as well as drug dealers who he said sometimes use the property.
“Would you want your mother or your grandmother to live under conditions like that?” he said.
Roye Logan, a resident of Mitchell Court, said public safety officers with the housing authority often take several hours to get to the complex when residents call them about issues.
“What are we supposed to do?” Logan said. “We got to deal with this. We live here, we pay rent, we follow the rules.”
The seven-member board of commissioners that oversee the housing authority is appointed by the mayor and then confirmed by the Milwaukee Common Council. However, only four members are currently on the board — two were appointed by Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson and the other two by former Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.
On June 21, Johnson announced three new selections to the board in a press release. But in a letter following his announcement, nine alders, including Common Council President José Pérez, said the nomination process for those members needs to be “both collaborative and intentional.”
The letter called on Johnson to not “advance your slate of future nominees until our leadership has had the opportunity to discuss with you what strengths, collectively, a fully-staffed HACM Board should have.”
During a press conference Wednesday, Johnson addressed the fact that those nominations have still not been confirmed by the common council.
“What my request is to the Common Council, is to take up my appointees that I have appointed to the board, and confirm those individuals, so they can serve and be solutions oriented,” Johnson said.
In an interview Wednesday, Pérez said common council members are currently working on city legislation to help with onboarding for the nominees.
“We want to make sure that they understand their roles, their responsibilities,” Pérez said.
“It is the council’s only opportunity to have some feedback, raise the bar, ask questions, ensure that these potential nominees are the best ones,” Pérez said. “Now that they’re in front of us, we’re not going to rush it.”
Corrective action plans underway
Since 2021, the Milwaukee office of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has provided technical assistance to the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee.
Due to noncompliance issues, it was announced earlier this year that the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program would be taken over by an outside contractor. In a request for proposals to fill that position, some of the financial issues the housing authority has been dealing with were detailed.
That included “substantial noncompliance issues related to financial/accounting as well as programmatic areas,” according to the RFP.
The Quality Assurance Division of HUD found “financial records and books of account could not be properly and effectively tracked, and lack an audit trail,” the RFP said.
HUD currently has two corrective action plans in place for the housing authority.
The RFP says it’s seeking a “highly-qualified professional consulting and management firm or a highly-qualified public housing authority to manage and operate all of the key functions of HACM’s entire HCV program.”
A spokesperson said the agency is still in the process of selecting an outside vendor.
Editor’s Note: WPR’s Nick Rommel contributed reporting to this story.
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