SAN ANTONIO, TX — On March 19, San Antonio Police were summoned to 1215 Fair Avenue, the Fair Avenue apartments owned by the San Antonio Housing Authority.
On the 11th floor police discovered the decomposing body of 43 year old Thomas Lyons. Lyons had been shot several times and stuffed into the closet of the apartment. Lyons a plumber by trade with drug addiction issues was not a resident of the Fair Avenue apartments. Despite tenant complaints of the odor their complaints were not taken seriously until maggots crawled under the door onto the hallway on the 11th floor. The manager Antonia Lopez had ignored their complaints as usual and has a history of mistreating tenants.
Berta Caceres a resident of Fair Avenue stated that drug dealing and prostitution is common at Fair Avenue due to no security measures. The June 2nd issue in the Express-News reported that SAHA has cut security funding by 42%.
On April 4th a group of tenants from three different buildings picketed the SAHA Administration building at 818 S. Flores. These tenants were organized by the Tenants Union of San Antonio. Much to SAHA’s dismay many of the tenants were interviewed by various media sources exposing the injustices at SAHA buildings.
On April 17, a group of SAHA tenants met with SAHA Board of Commissionerschairman Dr. Morris Stribling, Commissioner/Resident Charles Clack and newly appointed Commissioner Sofia Lopez. The Commissioners appeared astounded after listening to the testimony of tenants from Fair Avenue, Lewis Chatham and Marie McGuire apartments. They heard about the corrupt manager at Chatham who tolerates racism and favoritism to tenants willing to be her snitches. They viewed color photos of an elderly tenant beaten by a younger, bigger tenant. The victim has been evicted and the assailant continues living at Lewis Chatham. He is building manager Marie Flores’ snitch.
An older male resident from Fair Avenue testified how about the drug dealing, the prostitution all tolerated by SAHA management. There has been more than two murders at this building in the past.
In the end Marie McGuire tenant Pancho Valdez testified how management has allowed a self admitted member of the Ku Klux Klan to grope women on the elevator, refer to Black tenants as n***rs, committed a terroristic threat with a knife and more recently assaulted his girl friend in the building and yet remains as he too is a SAHA management snitch. This snitch is James Hogue and apparently has close ties to SAHA upper management as I have seen people of color evicted for far less violations. SAHA CEO David Nisivoccia’s response to me when I complained was; “Isn’t he entitled to due process?” Due process after three years of terror?
On June 6, five tenants from three buildings and the ex-wife of Thomas Lyons all testified at the SAHA Board of Commissioners meeting. While we were small in number our message was heavy. Unfortunately the Board along with upper management hear us but don’t respond or act to correct the situations.
We feel that the San Antonio community should know how SAHA bosses are denying low income tenants their rights. The community should also know that HUD a federal agency that is mandated to oversee SAHA told three of us that they are NOT authorized to enforce the agency’s own regulations!
Thus we organize with the Tenants Union of San Antonio aka TUSA to demand and secure justice. We ask for supporters to email David Nisivoccia the CEO: david_nisivoccia@saha.org. Demand that he end the favoritism, the tolerated violence, the racism, and beef up security.
Pancho Valdez and James Hamilton are organizers and tenants of SAHA.
