Bob Davis has been confined to a wheelchair for some time. Two days ago, while coming out of his apartment at 1528 W. Morse, he was attacked and robbed.
This is the THIRD TIME that Bob has been assaulted INSIDE HIS BUILDING.
Other tenants have been threatened or assaulted. Bob Davis says he feels like a prisoner in his home. Rose Green was shoved aside as she was leaving the building by someone that did not belong in the building (the person went up to the apartment that tenants have been telling Jay Johnson's management about for months).
Victoria Michaels lives under the problem apartment and says she's fed up with the late night parties and people coming in and out, presumably doing and trading drugs. She's complained many times, with little response. Victoria is working with RPCAN and the other tenants to re-organize the Morse Senior Apartments Tenant Association.
This latest round of problems is nothing new!
On and off for years, tenants, supported by RPCAN and the Rogers Park Section 8 Tenant Council, have been asking for the "state-of-the art security" they were promised when the building opened at 1528 Morse with such fanfare.
Jay Johnson, the principal owner (Rogers Park Community Council, RPCC, is a partner and part owner of the building) received public subsidy to rehab the building, which had previously been a notorious 'drug house'. Promises of state of the art security was one of the reasons for public support.
There were many management problems from the start. (e.g. weeks with no elevator for seniors and people in wheelchairs)
Tenants fear it's going back to the way it was. When tenants have organized, Johnson has done just enough to appease some of the tenants over the years, but he refuses to install real security measures, such as a security guard or camera.
Johnson's company also promised on-site management, but that does not exist in any meaningful way (there is a management office on-site, but it is rarely staffed).
Victoria Michaels, Bob Davis, Rose Green and others are re-organizing the Tenants Association and are pushing Johnson to deal with the apparent problem tenant and install a real "state-of-the-art' security system, to solve this problem long-term.
The tenant association has drafted a letter to Johnson and have asked for a meeting. But they want support in pressuring him.
Two key players that would have a lot of influence with Johnson and CIG Management would be Alderman Moore and Rogers Park Community Council (RPCC). As Alderman, Moore can be very influential on any building and development issues. Though not responsible for day to day management, RPCC is actually part owner of the building (1528 Morse). But both these players could send a message of solidarity to Jay Johnson, letting him know that they back the tenant association's request for real security, long-term.
It will take about one minute to send a simple email to both Alderman Moore and the RPCC, asking them to lean on Jay Johnson. Just click this link to lean on them.
Please support seniors in demanding safety @ home. (feel free to forward)
15 comments:
Toni and Craig-
I want to thank you both for taking your personal time to make us all aware of the mistreatment of ordinary citizens who otherwise wouldn't have a voice.
We read and hear sad stories like this all too frequently.When did it become acceptable to treat our senior citizens, the oldest in our society this way? It wasn't always like this in our country. The immigrants who populated the United States, all came from societies that honor and respect their older family members, the grandmothers and grandfathers, in the family heirarchy and society in general.They deserve that respect.
These people are the backbone,the foundation of our society. They don't ask for much because if they are in their sixties or seventies, they didn't expect much growing up. Most of that generation lived through the Great Depression, where food on the family table was a luxury. They married and many lost their spouses in World War 2. They had children and lost many of them in the Korean War.
They have lived through monumental events and upheaval in the world and in our country. If you are seventy today, you haved lived through 3 wars, the Holocaust, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the cold war, the Cuban missile crisis, the 2 Kennedy and King assasinations, moon landings, Nixon and enough technological advancements to make your head spin. Throughout it all these people worked, raised families, paid their taxes and were good citizens. They deserve our respect.
They don't ask for much. Is it unreasonable, after a lifetime of work and sacrifice to your country, to expect a safe place to live and not be stripped of your independence and dignity? Is it too much to ask from property owners that basic human necessities like heat, security and elevator service all be in working order? These services are not luxuries, they are requirements in any town in this country and to deny these services is unlawful and downright cruel.
How hard would it be to make things right and what is the justification for keeping it wrong? There are none and anyone who is responsible for allowing this to continue, from the top guy down, should be ashamed.This should be made right because it was promised, it's the law and it's the right thing to do.
Like DevCorp, RPCC is a 501(c)(3) that owns property? How much more do we NOT know?
What have YOU have done?
thomas westgard aka just the fact, maa'm,
you are one of a kind. hopefully.
so this building is a senior home. am i correct in this understanding?
is there a non-senior living in the building that is having the parties, selling the drugs, doing the beatings? or is this another elderly person living here doing these things and/or inviting it to happen?
just curious. it seems if the building is defined for the elderly but someone who is not elderly is living in the building, then getting them out shouldn't be too hard. evictions do take several months to process through the courts. these folks could be waiting a while.
Like Tara, I was under the impression that this is a seniors only building. Assuming that this is the case, although it is possible that some of the senior residents have invited (or been strong armed to invite) younger family members to live with them, I would imagine they are doing this against the rules. Mr. Johnson needs to do regular audits of who is actually living there, along with proper tenant screening and get those who don't belong there out.
And he needs to install proper security. Doesn't he had any conscience at all, for god's sake!!!
> ... is there a non-senior living in the building ...
At the Gateway Senior building, the deal is one person on the lease has to be a "near-senior", 55 or older.
Here is a Tenants association organizers manual.
I am a single 62 year old female who lives in the Morse senior bldg. Jay Johnson is the worst landlord that I have ever had. We have bed bugs, rodents, not to mention that it is a fire hazard and Mr. Johnson and his scumbag staff refuse to do anything about it. I have bites all over me from bed bugs. Not to mention that the faucet fell off my sink in the kitchen 2 days ago, and they don't seem too concerned about replacing it. I have to turn the water off and on from underneath the sink. I haver very bad knees and it hurts to bend them, and I just SHOULD NOT be treated this way, nor should anyone else in this building. It is not the criminals outside the building that I worry about, it is the scumbag criminals that own the building and all his cronies. I addressed this at a meeting of Joe Moore's last nite and was told this was not the place to discuss it, he would rather talk about street lights. But then, Jay Johnson has contributed thousands of dollars to Joe Moore's campaign, and in return, Joe Moore appointed him to his land and zoning committee. We need to get rid of the people at the top, like alderman Joe Moore, Jay Johnson, that scumbag building manager here (Petra McHatten), the janitor, "Jack" who won't give you his last name because he says he doesn't want anyone reporting him for anything. We in this building are all sick of the garbage that we have to put up with but there is no one to go to to get this jerk to clean up this building.
I am a single 62 year old female who lives in the Morse senior bldg. Jay Johnson is the worst landlord that I have ever had. We have bed bugs, rodents, not to mention that it is a fire hazard and Mr. Johnson and his scumbag staff refuse to do anything about it. I have bites all over me from bed bugs. Not to mention that the faucet fell off my sink in the kitchen 2 days ago, and they don't seem too concerned about replacing it. I have to turn the water off and on from underneath the sink. I haver very bad knees and it hurts to bend them, and I just SHOULD NOT be treated this way, nor should anyone else in this building. It is not the criminals outside the building that I worry about, it is the scumbag criminals that own the building and all his cronies. I addressed this at a meeting of Joe Moore's last nite and was told this was not the place to discuss it, he would rather talk about street lights. But then, Jay Johnson has contributed thousands of dollars to Joe Moore's campaign, and in return, Joe Moore appointed him to his land and zoning committee. We need to get rid of the people at the top, like alderman Joe Moore, Jay Johnson, that scumbag building manager here (Petra McHatten), the janitor, "Jack" who won't give you his last name because he says he doesn't want anyone reporting him for anything. We in this building are all sick of the garbage that we have to put up with but there is no one to go to to get this jerk to clean up this building.
I am a single 62 year old female who lives in the Morse senior bldg. Jay Johnson is the worst landlord that I have ever had. We have bed bugs, rodents, not to mention that it is a fire hazard and Mr. Johnson and his scumbag staff refuse to do anything about it. I have bites all over me from bed bugs. Not to mention that the faucet fell off my sink in the kitchen 2 days ago, and they don't seem too concerned about replacing it. I have to turn the water off and on from underneath the sink. I haver very bad knees and it hurts to bend them, and I just SHOULD NOT be treated this way, nor should anyone else in this building. It is not the criminals outside the building that I worry about, it is the scumbag criminals that own the building and all his cronies. I addressed this at a meeting of Joe Moore's last nite and was told this was not the place to discuss it, he would rather talk about street lights. But then, Jay Johnson has contributed thousands of dollars to Joe Moore's campaign, and in return, Joe Moore appointed him to his land and zoning committee. We need to get rid of the people at the top, like alderman Joe Moore, Jay Johnson, that scumbag building manager here (Petra McHatten), the janitor, "Jack" who won't give you his last name because he says he doesn't want anyone reporting him for anything. We in this building are all sick of the garbage that we have to put up with but there is no one to go to to get this jerk to clean up this building.
I am a single 62 year old female who lives in the Morse senior bldg. Jay Johnson is the worst landlord that I have ever had. We have bed bugs, rodents, not to mention that it is a fire hazard and Mr. Johnson and his scumbag staff refuse to do anything about it. I have bites all over me from bed bugs. Not to mention that the faucet fell off my sink in the kitchen 2 days ago, and they don't seem too concerned about replacing it. I have to turn the water off and on from underneath the sink. I haver very bad knees and it hurts to bend them, and I just SHOULD NOT be treated this way, nor should anyone else in this building. It is not the criminals outside the building that I worry about, it is the scumbag criminals that own the building and all his cronies. I addressed this at a meeting of Joe Moore's last nite and was told this was not the place to discuss it, he would rather talk about street lights. But then, Jay Johnson has contributed thousands of dollars to Joe Moore's campaign, and in return, Joe Moore appointed him to his land and zoning committee. We need to get rid of the people at the top, like alderman Joe Moore, Jay Johnson, that scumbag building manager here (Petra McHatten), the janitor, "Jack" who won't give you his last name because he says he doesn't want anyone reporting him for anything. We in this building are all sick of the garbage that we have to put up with but there is no one to go to to get this jerk to clean up this building.
I am a single 62 year old female who lives in the Morse senior bldg. Jay Johnson is the worst landlord that I have ever had. We have bed bugs, rodents, not to mention that it is a fire hazard and Mr. Johnson and his scumbag staff refuse to do anything about it. I have bites all over me from bed bugs. Not to mention that the faucet fell off my sink in the kitchen 2 days ago, and they don't seem too concerned about replacing it. I have to turn the water off and on from underneath the sink. I haver very bad knees and it hurts to bend them, and I just SHOULD NOT be treated this way, nor should anyone else in this building. It is not the criminals outside the building that I worry about, it is the scumbag criminals that own the building and all his cronies. I addressed this at a meeting of Joe Moore's last nite and was told this was not the place to discuss it, he would rather talk about street lights. But then, Jay Johnson has contributed thousands of dollars to Joe Moore's campaign, and in return, Joe Moore appointed him to his land and zoning committee. We need to get rid of the people at the top, like alderman Joe Moore, Jay Johnson, that scumbag building manager here (Petra McHatten), the janitor, "Jack" who won't give you his last name because he says he doesn't want anyone reporting him for anything. We in this building are all sick of the garbage that we have to put up with but there is no one to go to to get this jerk to clean up this building.
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