Residents of a low-income apartment complex on Jacksonville’s Westside say the living conditions are horrendous.
Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry marched onto the grounds of Eureka Garden Friday morningwith the city’s code enforcement team and other agencies in tow after tenants asked for an investigation of the living conditions.
As our partners News4Jax report, the fire marshal discovered three violations in the first building. Later on he said there were too many to count. Mayor Curry called the conditions “heartbreaking.”
Belinda Jefferson says she watches her grandchild while her daughter is at work. She says the kids have bad allergies.
“The problem is they have mold in their apartments and she also has a leak in her room that’s been there since she’s moved here,” Jefferson said.
She says the allergies are worse when the children are at the apartment.
And Telicia Wright says management doesn’t respond to residents’ complaints.
“There’s nothing getting accomplished,” Wright said. “The only time they want to do something is like if you make a complaint and they know somebody's coming out. They taped up the stairs and painted them black.”
Westside community activists say it’s not just Eureka Garden — other low-income complexes are in similar disrepair.
