The Arlington Tenant-Landlord Commission is refereeing a dispute about living conditions at The Shelton affordable-housing apartments.
On one side is the Green Valley Civic Association, which contends the property owner is turning a blind eye to everything from drug use to needed apartment repairs.
On the other side is AHC Inc., the nonprofit housing organization that operates the apartment building and says it is doing everything it can to address issues.
The simmering dispute broke into the open at the July 9 Tenant-Landlord Commission meeting, with accusations levied from both sides.
Paul Bernard, AHC’s president/CEO, said some of the criticisms levied against management of the apartment building were “false,” “misconstrued” and “irresponsible.”
“We have made numerous strides” to address issues, Bernard said. “We’ve tightened things up with our property management. When we hear about [issues], we try our best to respond.”
He defended AHC’s efforts at 3215 24th Street S.
“Am I going to sit here and say we are perfect? No,” he said. But “to classify the building itself, or the way we operate the building, as a slum landlord — that is a bit of hyperbole,” he added.
Yordanos Woldai, first vice president of the Green Valley Civic Association and head of its public-safety committee, disagreed.
“AHC is failing to meet its basic obligations,” she said, expressing the association’s “deep concern for the ongoing safety and habitability issues.”
“Parents fear for their children’s safety,” Woldai said. “Multiple residents have said they feel like prisoners in their own homes.”
Concerns, she said, centered on “loitering, drug use, public urination, loud music and violent altercations” in and around the building.
A day before the meeting, the civic association sent a letter to the Tenant-Landlord Commission, outlining specific concerns and asking that all be addressed by Sept. 30.
Andrew Ferreira, who chairs the commission, said efforts will be made to mediate.
“We’ll do our best to look into these concerns and work with AHC,” said Ferreira, a tenant representative on the panel. “Our goal is to hopefully meet your September deadline, but there’s a lot of fact-finding [to do].”
The next Tenant-Landlord Commission meetings are slated for Sept. 10 and Oct. 8.
Kristin Clegg, one of the landlord representatives on the panel, said some of the complaints were best tackled via the appropriate county-government staff.
“Several of them sound as if they could be addressed with code enforcement,” she said.
The meeting also brought up the question of jurisdiction, as it was an outside group (the civic association) rather than tenants themselves bringing up concerns.
Frank Duncan, a resident of The Shelton, said some residents were upset that outsiders were raising complaints that could be tackled within the building itself.
There is no formal tenant association at The Shelton. Duncan said he serves as a self-appointed troubleshooter between residents and management.
“They know how to get me,” he said of residents with concerns.
But Judith Davis, a Green Valley activist, said keeping complaints in-house has not solved underlying problems.
“There is not a day that goes by where residents don’t speak up” to herself or others outside normal tenant-to-landlord channels, she said. Some residents are afraid to speak up, or have spoken out in the past but received no relief, Davis said.
The 94-unit apartment building opened in 2009. It provides affordable homes to residents earning 50% or less of area median income.
Concerns about issues at The Shelton are part of larger concerns raised by Green Valley Civic Association residents in recent months. They range from shootings to public-intoxication complaints.
Bernard said it was important not to conflate issues on the apartment property with actions of those who congregate nearby.
“Most of those folks gathering in front aren’t our residents,” he said.
