Posted Thursday, Feb. 26, 2009; 9:00 a.m..

Living at the Alexandria Hotel
Affordable housing and the tenant

By Kim Daniels
The L.A. Pilot

Tom Silva likes to keep his room at about 80 degrees Fahrenheit. The orange glow of electric heat emanates from two units on the ground and a burner on the tiny kitchenette stove that is perpetually kept on high.

            Tom Silva doesn’t like his leaky toilet. The “woman’s toilet,” as he calls it, has cracks at the base. Every time he flushes, the contents of the toilet ooze onto the floor. The evidence is in the stagnant reddish-yellow pool that has collected along the baseboard next to the broken fixture.
            “Why should I clean it,” Silva says. “It has been broken for four years and they won’t give me a new room. I’m trapped here.”
            Silva is part of a lawsuit against the Alexandria Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.   The complaint alleged that the Amerland Group, the low-income and senior housing developer who purchased the building in 2006 and renovated it with funds from the Community Redevelopment Agency, “systematically and intentionally worked to remove the long-term tenants and replace them with non-elderly, non-disabled and non- African American tenants.” In May 2008, a federal judge found in favor of the tenants and ordered the CRA to pay relocation fees and find housing for tenants displaced by the renovation. The lawsuit, which seeks damages, is ongoing and the trial is set for sometime this year.
            “They owe me money,” Silva repeated when surveying his filthy toilet and cluttered room. The 63-year old has lived in the Alexandria for four years. He uses an electric wheelchair to get around, has a band aid fixed over one eye, and at some point in the day, soiled his jeans. Mr. Silva is in need of more supportive housing than the Alexandria provides.
            “He moved in to that unit less than a year ago. The toilet is new and it isn’t leaking,” said Andrew Conner, the resident service director at the Alexandria. “He puts his feces on the floor.”
           Silva’s bathroom floor is also littered with clumps of toilet paper, discarded Alka-Seltzer wrappers, instant noodle cups, and other trash. His toilet is not cracked and the caulking around the base is fairly new. His bed sheets are stained with what appears to be years of unwashed use and the clutter in his room surrounds the electric space heaters in what appears to be a fire hazard.
            “He doesn’t want my help. I’m the enemy,” Conner says.
            Conner has been trying to get additional help for Silva. The nurse that checks on Silva once a week does not clean the bathroom or the unit for him. This creates problems in a wide range of issues, including cockroaches, rodents, and general sanitation.
            “He is a danger to himself,” Conner says. “I can’t get him to turn off that stove burner. But I had to catch him twice yesterday before he fell on to it. If he doesn’t notice how close his belongings come to those heaters, he will not only burn his room down, he’ll burn the whole building down too.”
            But Silva sees the situation quite differently. He likes living on his own. He just wishes that the Alexandria would give him a new unit with a working toilet, no cockroaches, and no trash.
            “Obviously, Mr. Silva is a special case,” said S_____ Garcia, an organizer with the Los Angeles Community Action Network, the group who led the lawsuit for the tenants. “We are trying to get him more help, but it takes time to build up those relationships of trust.” (The hotel used to provide a maid service).
            [However, Garcia says, these tenants have rights and it is very obvious that they created an atmosphere in which the tenants could not trust them (the management). ]
            Garcia believes that Conner isn’t doing enough to help Silva. The resident service director is responsible for directing aid to tenants like Silva, Garcia said. It’s part of the method of creating an environment of distrust to provoke these kinds of tenants to leave, Garcia said.
            But Silva isn’t going anywhere.  He got involved with the lawsuit “because they’re crooks.” For now, is waiting for the end of the lawsuit when he will get the money he believes is rightfully owed.
                        Developers can’t just squeeze people out to get higher rents, Garcia said. The tenants have organized against this, and they are finally being heard.