Judge hears testimony on progress in Thames River Apartments case

Reardon admonishes city for not adhering to terms of agreement

Ongoing efforts by the city and its housing authority to relocate the 124 families at the troubled Thames River Apartments have, for the time being, helped to stave off further court action.

City officials met in Hartford Superior Court for a status conference on Wednesday at the behest of Robert Reardon, the attorney who, after a decade of fighting the housing authority on behalf of its residents in a class-action lawsuit, reached a court-stipulated judgment with the city in 2014.

The agreement provided a threeyear schedule to begin rehabilitation or redevelopment of the high-rise apartments off Crystal Avenue and required the housing authority to have new housing in place for the tenants by November 2017. The lawsuit complained of unsanitary and unsafe living conditions.

In a strongly worded report issued to the court on Wednesday, Reardon admonished the city for its failure to adhere to the terms of the agreement and for deteriorating conditions at the federally subsidized apartment complex. He decried the denial of a proposal to build replacement housing at the site at the former Edgerton School.

“Anybody that cares about bringing relief for these families should be pulling for us to succeed.” MICHAEL PASSERO, MAYOR OF NEW LONDON

A scaled-back plan is currently in the planning phase.

“There have been many promises that have not been kept and many mixed and confusing messages sent from the (New London Housing Authority) and City administration about the future of these families,” Reardon wrote. “Many of these families do not know where they will live, where their kids will go to school, and where they will get jobs if they are displaced from New London.”

After listening to the testimony on Wednesday about the efforts underway to move Thames River tenants, however, Reardon said he was “cautiously optimistic that things are on the right track.”

The housing authority is in the process of applying for a disposition application with the federal department of Housing and Urban Development and expects to obtain tenant protection vouchers to allow residents to move elsewhere while still maintaining a federal subsidy for rent. The housing authority, under its new director, Roy Boling, has also contracted with the New Haven-based Glendower Group to help find homes and move the residents. The move is expected to start by year’s end.

“I think the judge could see that everyone is working very hard to get to the point of moving residents out,” said Housing Authority Chairwoman Betsy Gibson. “Two years ago it was a whole different group of people. We have a new mayor, a new board and a new executive director. Everyone is one the same page.”

Gibson said Wednesday’s conference included emotional testimony from two residents, Jeanne Ward and Jeanette Parker.

Mayor Michael Passero, who also testified, said the track the housing authority is on now is the only solution to a situation that had gotten out of control in past years.

“The only practical thing to do to get out of this situation we’re in is to move the people out of this failed project and provide quality housing for them with these tenant protection vouchers,” Passero said. “Nobody is considering the option to rebuild a project out of the 1960s and warehouse the poorest of the poor.”

Passero said the housing authority does not have the money to update or sustain the maintenance of the aging buildings.

“Anybody that cares about bringing relief for these families should be pulling for us to succeed,” Passero said.

The hearing took place before Judge David Sheridan, the same judge who signed the agreement in 2014. Reardon said Sheridan plans to stay involved in the process.

“They told the judge a lot of things they intended to do within the next 30 days,” Reardon said. “The judge quite astutely asked them to report back to make sure things get done. He also expressed concerns that years have passed and a lot of promises were made that have not been kept.”

Reardon said he expects Sheridan would reopen and enter additional orders and deadlines to the agreement if things are not moving along. Another status conference with Judge Sheridan be held on Sept. 27.