Milwaukee housing; public housing building inspections begin
MILWAUKEE - Accountability in housing.
It's official: The Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee (HACM) now has oversight from a different entity. It comes more than a year after a nonprofit started advocating for low-income renters.
Trash build-ups on property, pest problems like bed bugs and rats, even mold inside units.
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Since it began 80 years ago, any complaint on the housing authority went to the housing authority.
That changed on Monday, May 6.
When she first moved in 11 years ago, Vivian Jones thought she'd found her home at Lapham Park. But as time moved on, that first impression did too.
"It was a beautiful place. Very quiet, clean building," Jones said. "The grounds [were] kept up. People shouldn't have to live with mold dripping down over the toilets and around the toilets. They shouldn't have to live with bed bugs and scratching and itching."
Last September, Jones testified before a Common Council committee. She wanted more oversight over her landlord, HACM.
"Usually, when we complain, nothing was done about it. It just went, you know, HACM was overseeing HACM," Jones said.
Lapham Park
Despite its name, HACM answers to its own board of commissioners nominated by the mayor.
In October, Mayor Cavalier Johnson signed an ordinance empowering the city's department of neighborhood services to handle any property inspection in response to a renter's registered complaint.
Kevin Solomon is an associate organizer with Common Ground, a nonprofit that works with public housing tenants. They’ve been working to amplify tenant voices since March 2023.
"We're over the moon. This is a big deal," Solomon said. "If I go to the housing authority and I complain to my manager about my manager, that doesn't make sense. That math doesn't math."
They are now hoping it adds up to change and accountability.
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"Now, we got [Department of Neighborhood Services] that can come in and oversee and make sure that these things are being done, so I'm kinda thrilled about that," Jones said.
This was supposed to start with the new year, but the Common Council required DNS to fill other staffing holes before adding to its plate.
It is now in effect.
There are two inspectors preparing to handle the complaints.