Residents tell council of rodent-infested buildings, stalled repairs and management harassment

Dozens of Newark residents used the Hearing of Citizens on May 20 to press the Municipal Council for faster enforcement of housing and habitability standards. Speakers described a pattern of maintenance failures, rodent infestations, broken elevators and what they call predatory management practices at multiple privately managed senior and multi-family buildings.

Robert Pinnell, a resident at Saint Mary's Villa, told the council the building has a single working elevator, an unpatched fire door and ongoing rodent problems. "They took all the benches in the lobby area'we have no place to sit," Pinnell said, asking Councilman Kelly to convene a meeting with the new management and affected tenants. He said some residents were being told they owed thousands because of paperwork errors from prior management.

Multiple speakers echoed Pinnell's account. Deborah Sanders, who said she speaks for many seniors and disabled neighbors, described "a systematic intimidation through neglect" by a property manager she identified as Best Management and provided council members with recorded conversations and written complaints. "No resident, especially seniors, disabled tenants, or long-term Newark residents should feel pressured out of their home through repeated calls," Sanders said.

Several commenters connected housing failures to public-safety risks. Elaine Freeman described two recent neighborhood fires at allegedly illegally converted properties, saying children tried to extinguish flames before first responders arrived and demanded emergency inspections and a moratorium on additional high-density approvals until enforcement and infrastructure are reviewed.

Council members and city officials said they would follow up. Councilman Kelly said his office had met with Saint Mary's Villa representatives earlier in the year, that cameras and extermination had been discussed, and that a resident-management meeting would be scheduled. Administration staff said code enforcement and the Uniform Construction Code (UCC) are the primary departments charged with addressing illegal conversions and habitability concerns; the administration also said it would increase outreach to affected residents.

The public comment period included requests for concrete remedies: more tenant-accessible meetings with management, regularized extermination, transparent rent and fee recalculations, prompt inspections for alleged habitability violations, and better coordination among rent-control, DCA and HUD-related offices. Council members encouraged residents to attend forthcoming committee meetings and invited public documentation; several said staff would contact complainants after the meeting.

The council did not take immediate legislative action at the meeting other than to direct staff to follow up; several speakers asked for rapid reporting back at the next available council session.