BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Complaints continue at a Burlington apartment building plagued by drugs, crimes, and violence. Decker Towers, Vermont’s tallest building, is run by the Burlington Housing Authority and is home to people over 55 and those with disabilities. Despite a commitment by managers nearly a year ago to address concerns, tenants say the same kinds of problems persist.
Star Thompson lives at Decker Towers and says poor conditions at the subsidized apartments have only deteriorated. “It’s gotten worse in the last three years,” Thompson said.
“They have gotten worse over the last few months,” said Jeffry Cohen, another resident who says he’s sick of the drug dealing and open drug use that plague the building. “It’s like a war zone.”
Photos from inside the towers show staircases filled with people looking for a place to sleep, using drugs, and then leaving behind garbage, needles, and human waste.
“At night, I am afraid to leave my apartment because I am afraid I’m going to get jumped,” Cohen said.
“Why am I going to pay $762 when these people get to stay in the staircase for free?” said James Mathews.
“It seems like the homeless and the drug addicts have more rights than the tenants that live here,” added Thompson.
Steven Murray, director of the Burlington Housing Authority, says he hears his tenants and is working to fix issues and that more cameras and lights have been added inside and outside, as well as security upgrades for the doors. He says BHA has also carried out about 10 evictions related to drug issues in the last year. “One of them when we did the eviction, there were eight people in there. It looked like a needle truck tipped over and I’m not talking about new needles,” Murray said.
He says more evictions are in the works but he can’t control who comes in the building because people are legally allowed to have guests, even if they are dealing drugs. “There’s no way for me to actually prevent the ingress and egress to the dealers,” Murray said. “If you are a drug dealer and you are selling to your customers, you are going to let them in.”
Murray says after recent evictions, conditions improved until the colder weather hit. He says after an encampment on Battery Street was recently told by the city to clear out, 23 people ended up sleeping in the hallways due to the extreme cold. He says it puts him between a rock and a hard place as local shelters are full. “So, are you going to tell them to get out of the hallways? ‘This is not your building, you can’t be here.’ Where are they going to go?” he said. Muray says the solution is more housing, a tougher legal system, and an easier eviction process. “if there were not the drug dealers in Decker Towers, I think a large portion of those people wouldn’t be let in.”
BHA will be presenting to the city the idea of adding security guards but Murray says just two guards would add $600,000 to their budget.
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