Mount Etna County Housing Facility Receives Poor Marks from Residents
By Pam Begeal
This past May, representatives from communities around the city of San Diego joined San Diego United Communities members at a press conference and protest at a County and Federally funded Clairemont housing facility, located at 5255 Mt. Etna Drive, that has been receiving lots of criticism from its residents. They claim that it been promoted as offering affordable housing especially for its senior residents who have restricted resources.
According to Margaret Virissimo, spokesperson for San Diego United Communities, Mayor Todd Gloria, City Council Jen Campbell and County Supervisor Monica Steppe attended a dedication ceremony this past month and gave praising remarks about the facility.
The “campus” contains three buildings for residents with specific needs: seniors, families and mixed seniors and others.
The protest was attended by several candidates running for City Council D2 Mandy Havlik, Jacob Mitchell, Michael Rickey Paul Suppa and City Council D6 candidate Mark Powell.
Trudy Grundlund from We Are San Diego toured the campus and talked to one of the residents in the Family section who was with one of his two young children.
He said that for over a year he was on the San Diego Housing Commissions’ waiting list and was recently able to move in with his wife and two children. He pays $2,400.00 per month for a small two bedroom unit. He said there are only two washers and two dryers for the entire floor of five or more families, so they are constantly checking throughout the day and night to find one available.
The new resident also shared that there is no management or rental office available over the weekends, which means no one to contact with questions and issues.
He also said that the walls and ceilings in the units are so thin he can hear people walking above. Loud sounds from neighboring units make it difficult for his children to sleep. He said that their previous residence in Mission Valley was superior to this new facility and that he will be moving out when his lease is up.
Susie Ward, representing a group from Linda Vista and Mike Rikey running for City Council D2 and I spoke to a resident who lives in the newer mixed senior & others buildingwho said he was living in another complex in Clairemont when he was approached by individuals promoting this site. He believes they were from the city or represented the developers. They were passing out brochures soliciting people to move from the complex he was in into this new senior complex. It sounded appealing. However, it wasn’t what was promised.
Though he is a senior with disabilities and on a fixed income, the units don’t have grab bars in the showers or near the toilets. When he asked the management, they said he would need to purchase them, and they would do the installation.
He regrets moving into the facility and plans to move out soon because the rent is going up and the facility isn’t an improvement from where he previously lived.
Apparently, the Mount Etna facility received City and Federal grants to build this campus with upwards of 404 units and only 240 to 250 parking spaces. The parking lot is always full, and neighboring communities are losing their parking spaces. There are only 12 disabled spaces on site.
Other facility issues include a senior center that has very limited availability and services. While the seniors are provided a free breakfast each morning, it was completely dark and locked at 9:30 a.m. the weekend of the protest. A posted schedule inside offered the following limited offerings.
Every other Tues. – 1:30 p.m. Navy Federal Credit Union presentation
Every Wed. – 10 a.m. – Blood pressure checked
Every Thurs. – 10 a.m. Yoga and 1:30 p.m. Bingo
And I was told by residents no one can be in the senior center when a staff member is not present. Since it looks like they have a very limited schedule of events and nothing Friday through Monday, it looks like access to the senior center is mostly limited to just the breakfast then locked by 9:30 a.m. on those mornings and not to reopen again.
Category: Architecture, family, Government, Lawsuits, Local News, Nonprofit, Real Estate, Seniors
