Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry was in Washington D.C. Wednesday for a meeting with the secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The top item on the agenda is what Curry and others have called deplorable living conditions at Eureka Gardens Apartments and other subsidized housing properties in Jacksonville owned by Global Ministries Foundation.
Both HUD Secretary Julian Castro and Curry have called for Global Ministries Foundation to sell the Eureka Gardens and Washington Heights.
HUD has already stripped the ministries of two troubled Tennessee properties.
After their meeting with Castro, Curry and Dennis will head to the Senate to meet with Sen. Marco Rubio, who is also pushing HUD to revamp its inspection process after Eureka Gardens received a passing score last year that had to be vacated after the News4Jax I-TEAM exposed squalor at the community, ranging from mold and crumbling stairs to gas leaks and exposed wires.
Sources tell the I-TEAM that the office of the Inspector General is also investigating Global Ministries. Officials with the Inspector General's Office said they cannot confirm or deny those reports.
On Tuesday, residents of Eureka Gardens cheered Curry's efforts to improve their living conditions.
"I think that Legal Aid cares, that HUD cares, that news people care," Karami Hamilton said. "(It) makes me feel good that we're not alone, just because we're in low income. We're not alone. People who live in homes and pay mortgages every month care more about how we live than this man does."
Last week, the mayor and city councilmen toured Washington Heights to get information on those tenants to gather information in advance of Wednesday's trip.
Gardner will be tweeting updates throughout the trip and getting reaction from Curry and Dennis as soon as their meeting at HUD is completed.