Atlantic City's Housing Authority has been called the city's largest slumlord, is battling a lawsuit and is reportedly the target of a federal investigation.
But the overseer of the city's public housing continues to operate with little to no oversight, its unhappy inhabitants point out.
At least, the ones willing to speak publicly.
Residents and supporters willing to speak out visited the various Housing Authority-run properties Tuesday in an effort to get residents to sign a petition asking for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to take over.
A resident of Altman Terrace signs the petition.Congressman Jeff Van Drew, R-Atlantic, joined the tour in an effort to shed more light on the issues, and to fulfill a promise he made during a visit in the spring.
"I don't know where the $10 million goes," he said of the federal money meant for the city's public housing. "But it isn't going to you."
The group met at the All Wars Memorial Building across from Stanley Holmes Village, which has gotten the most focus during the fight for clean conditions, hot water, heat in the winter and air conditioning in the summer.
But it is far from the only neighborhood with problems that many are placing firmly at the door of the Housing Authority.
"One day the door will open and the light will shine in," said Matt Doherty, whose oversight of the city's Housing Authority ended almost as quickly as it began.
Why? Because he asked questions.
"They terminated me," he said.
But that has not stopped him from speaking out.
He told a congressional committee in May that the authority is "the largest slumlord in Atlantic City."
Doherty has not changed his stance.
The tour Tuesday did nothing to help
It began with City Councilwoman LaToya Dunston reaching into a bag she brought with her that was a "present" from an unnamed resident. Inside was a clear Ziplock baggie with a glue trap filled with bugs.
Jeff Van Drew shows the aftermath of a glue trap from a public housing home. The surprises continued.
Inside Altman Terrace, one resident led the tour into the apartment across the hall from hers. The flooding is so bad, it's leaking into her apartment, she said.
Walking in, the smell hit first. Then, there was the sound of the toilet's constant run.
The apartment has been uninhabited for about two years, she said. The thick dark grime covering the toilet and bathtub showed why no one is living there.
There are about 46 other units not inhabited, Doherty later pointed out.
"Steve, we'll make sure nothing happens to these people, right?" Van Drew asked local National Action Network leader Steve Young, as his group took pictures of the vacant room. "It's like a whistle blower."
The bathroom of a vacant apartment has caused issues for the resident across the hall, she says."I don't care if they get mad," the tenant said more than once.
But at least one worker was worried.
He locked up the room when he was alerted that the congressman and his entourage were inside.
"I'm not getting fired," he said.
At Shore Park on North Virginia Avenue, a worker there was not so quiet.
He lives on the sixth floor next to the office, which is now locked, he said. He also alleges that the money from the snack machines that is supposed to go toward events for the elderly and/or disabled residents has been taken for at least a year.
"We've had no events," he said.
They also have had no laundry. Residents who can have to leave the grounds to do their laundry. It was unclear what the options are for those unable to travel on their own.
At first, management tried to keep the tour out of the building.
Van Drew pointed out he was a congressman being denied access to a federally owned building. He then said they could call the police.
Officers did come later, but Councilman George Tibbitt said that was because he reached out to the police chief concerned that calls would be made and police put in the middle the situation.
Instead, officers who already were there for the group came up.
"We're just hear making sure you're OK," one of the officers said.
The tour came a day before HUD is set to begin its yearly inspections of the Housing Authority properties.
"Are you ready for tomorrow?" Dunston asked one maintenance leader.
"As ready as I can be," he replied, noting that he has not been given the supplies he needs for a lot of the work.
Van Drew basically confirmed that there is a federal investigation "from the criminal end" into the actions of the authority.
Until then, complaints continue about the issues with no response from the authority's leaders.
