
DATE: Wednesday, July 23, 1997              TAG: 9707230634

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY KATRICE FRANKLIN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: SUFFOLK                           LENGTH:   71 lines

COMMISSIONERS TAKE NOTE OF PROBLEMS DURING TOUR OF SUFFOLK PUBLIC HOUSING

It was a typical, summer day when the grey and white Suffolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority van stopped in front of Hoffler Apartments.

Children played basketball while their mothers washed clothes. Some of the residents slept, and others sat outside and talked.

Once the van opened, and its occupants stepped out, the apartment complex the seven authority members had come to see seemed to come to life.

Sleeping residents soon awoke, and the children who had been playing gathered their belongings.

They each wanted a word with the housing authority's Board of Commissioners, the group that oversees the agency that owns 466 public housing units.

``This railing has been down and an elderly person lives there,'' resident Thelma Hinton told commissioners.

``The trash on the ground and these broken windows have been in police reports that you all should've gotten,'' Hinton continued. ``There's been no air conditioning in the community room. And these computers that have been here since last November still haven't been used.''

The agency's commissioners toured Suffolk's four public housing sites Tuesday to get a look at the developments. Residents in the complexes have been complaining for months that their apartments are not being maintained.

Suffolk's oldest public housing development, Cypress Manor, is more than 30 years old. Its youngest, Colander-Bishop, was built about 12 years ago.

The commissioners took notes about torn-down fences, uncut grass, apartments with leaky refrigerators and rotten plywood.

Chairman John Kindred said the board will now study the problems and make a list of priorities.

``If it's finances, we'll look into it,'' Kindred said. ``If we can set aside $1.2 million to renovate the Professional Building, we can find money to maintain the public housing.'' The Professional Building is one of two city high-rises in Suffolk's downtown.

Housing officials said that many of the problems, though, can be solved by the residents. When the board members toured Parker Riddick Village, they watched one resident hammer out his window to make an air conditioner unit fit.

``Those are $800 windows,'' said Executive Director Clarissa E. McAdoo.

Hoffler Housing Manager Regina Hall said both the residents and the housing authority will have to work together.

``If we as a housing authority don't do anything, how can we expect residents to show an initiative? It has to start with the housing authority first.''

Ten-year-old Quinton Franklin said he just wants a better place to live.

``I think the residents and the housing authority should try to fix this place up,'' Quinton said. ``It would look a lot better.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos

JOHN H. SHEALLY II/The Virginian-Pilot

Officer Sandy Gilliely talks with Larry Darden, center, and Quinton

Franklin, who live in Hoffler Apartments, during a Redevelopment and

Housing Authority tour. Gilliely soon will be part of a bike patrol

at the complex.

A suggestion from the tour was to move this phone inside the

complex. Residents say the phone on Washington Street draws drug

dealers.

Graphic

HOUSING COMPLAINTS

Residents say their apartments aren't being maintained properly.

They point out torn-down fences, leaky refrigerators and rotten