After weeks of complaining about bug infestations and smells, seniors in public housing have been informed that they\u2019ll be getting new locks for their doors.<\/p>\n
Staff from the Office municipal d\u2019habitation de Montreal (OMHM) met with tenants at 720 and 760 Gamelin in early and mid-September to tell them about plans to outfit both buildings with electronic door locks in the coming year.<\/p>\n
Since those meetings, tenants from both buildings have been calling the Suburban in frustration and 26 tenants from 720 met with our reporter in person last Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow can they justify spending money on technology when they can\u2019t even wash our windows or clean the floors,\u201d asked one tenant during the meeting.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have more potholes here than they have on the worst Montreal roads,\u201d said another.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey should start by cleaning the buildings, exterminating ants and bed bugs and repairing water damage before spending for upgrades,\u201d said another.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t forget about my mice. I want my mice gone,\u201d said another.<\/p>\n
The tenants in 720 want the entire building fumigated and cleaned properly and wanted to know how to go about getting respectful answers from their landlord. They were particularly frustrated after receiving what they considered a disrespectful response to their petition. (See \u201cOMHM staff powerless too\u201d story).<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, tenants in 760 are no happier about their landlord\u2019s plans for new locks, which they heard about on September 6, but some are tentatively encouraged by the possibilities of a a tenants\u2019 committee and new renovations at the front entrance. Neither idea was approved at the meeting in early September, but both are supposed to begin this week.<\/p>\n
Several residents were afraid to attend the meeting in September and supplied Serge Gagn\u00e9 with sealed letters for housing officials instead.<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t got any response from those letters, but I passed them on to the OMHM,\u201d said Gagn\u00e9.<\/p>\n
Tenants who called the Suburban expressed concern over the \u201chouse arrest mentality\u201d they say they\u2019d been experiencing for months now. Some are frustrated that they can\u2019t consume liquor on the grounds or in the tenants\u2019 committee room without a licence; another complained that she received a letter from the OMHM asking her to refrain from picking up mail in her housecoat; and two others said they were told to gather within their apartments instead of in common areas after another tenant called them names.<\/p>\n
Note: This article appeared in the City edition of the\u00a0Suburban on October 3.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After weeks of complaining about bug infestations and smells, seniors in public housing have been informed that they\u2019ll be getting new locks for their doors. Staff from the Office municipal d\u2019habitation de Montreal (OMHM) met with tenants at 720 and 760 Gamelin in early and mid-September to tell them about plans to outfit both buildings […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_wp_convertkit_post_meta":{"form":"-1","landing_page":"0","tag":"0","restrict_content":"0"},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lasalleposts","post-wrapper","thrv_wrapper"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2buQs-jF","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1148,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/who-decides-for-seniors-living-in-low-income-housing\/","url_meta":{"origin":1219,"position":0},"title":"Who Decides for Seniors Living in Low-Income Housing?","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"August 4, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 \u00a0 Fifty of the hundred seniors living at 760 Gamelin have signed a petition in favour of reinstating their tenants\u2019 association, but a spokesperson for the low-income housing authority that runs their building says their request will be refused. \u201cThey can work in collaboration with us, but they can\u2019t\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "LaSalle"","block_context":{"text":"LaSalle","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/canada\/lasalleposts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/760chuteAug2011.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1160,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/trust-broken\/","url_meta":{"origin":1219,"position":1},"title":"Trust Broken between Tenants and Officials at Low Income Senior Residences","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"October 6, 0201","format":false,"excerpt":"Lasalle\u2014 Two long meetings did little to reassure tenants in the seniors buildings on Gamelin that life will get back to normal anytime soon, despite several announcements fulfilling some of their needs. Instead, mutual distrust will keep the kitchen doors locked, non-profit groups in charge of finances, and tenants feeling\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "LaSalle"","block_context":{"text":"LaSalle","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/canada\/lasalleposts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1215,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/omhm-staff-powerless-too\/","url_meta":{"origin":1219,"position":2},"title":"OMHM Staff Powerless Too?","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"October 4, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Sixty-six seniors think that their building at 720 Gamelin is filthy, but one person disagrees, so nothing will be done. \u201cOn September 12, 2012, one of our employees verified and the premises were clean,\u201d says the written response to a tenant petition. 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