Former hotel tenants slept on sidewalk, though help offered
EL CENTRO – The sidewalk near the Roberta Hotel appeared at risk of becoming the city’s latest homeless encampment Friday as some former tenants of the shuttered dwelling said they were sleeping there because they had nowhere else to go.
“I’m waiting for them to get me housing. I slept on the sidewalk last night,” an angry Janea Martinez said.
Additionally, they said other homeless were gathering there and some were seen there Friday.
City inspectors ordered the Roberta closed effective Thursday due to numerous code violations. Formal notice of the pending closure was given Tuesday to the tenants and building owner, and tenants said the short time frame left them scrambling to find somewhere live and move their belongings.
While city and Imperial County officials said efforts were made to help tenants find temporary shelter, those outside the Roberta on Friday alleged they had not been helped. However, property owner Kris Patel said some had declined assistance because the housing was in Brawley.
Candace Rutledge-Mc
Collough said she did not want to leave because she still had possessions inside the hotel. She also said she slept on the sidewalk
Thursday night.
“The ( county) Public Administrator said they had a room for us (Thursday night). I had my things in the hallway but I couldn’t leave them there, so I went back to put my things in the room. When I got back down, they (those from the Public Administrator taking people to housing) were gone,” she explained.
When a reporter asked Patel, who was in front of the hotel monitoring the property Friday morning, if Rutledge-McCollough could get her possessions from the room he told her he would let her in for 20 minutes. She then went inside.
Both Rutledge-McCollough and Martinez said they had nothing to eat and no access to a restroom.
The county released a statement late Thursday stating funds had been obtained for vouchers for temporary shelter for Roberta residents. However, by that time many had been gone from the site for several hours. Martinez alleged she was simply left out.
“They didn’t come pick me up. They took people who don’t live here,” she said.
In a statement released Friday afternoon, county public information officer Gilbert Rebollar said, “A majority of those seeking assistance from the county and our departments have