Families Win a Reprieve From Order to Move

Two families told to move by today from their apartments in a troubled Garden Grove complex won a reprieve Friday, and Mayor Bruce Broadwater said the city will help them relocate.

Residents of the two units in Haster Gardens learned Wednesday that their apartments had been declared uninhabitable by city inspectors and that they would have to vacate within 72 hours.

Broadwater announced to a group of about 50 residents that the two families will be given more time to find housing and that the city will help them.

But an advocate for residents of Haster Gardens said the city is not doing enough to protect other tenants, especially children, from unhealthy and unsafe living conditions.

“If you’re going to post it unhealthful, why doesn’t the city then . . . allocate funds to relocate these people?” asked Tom Simon of the Eviction Protectors, a company representing the tenants in negotiations with Equity Management 2000.

That drew a heated response from the mayor, who was there with Rep. Loretta Sanchez of Garden Grove, state Sen. Joe Dunn of Garden Grove and Assemblyman Lou Correa of Anaheim. All are Democrats.

They and other public officials have organized a task force to investigate the situation and to ensure that improvements are made. A primary concern, they say, is the health of children who live in the complex.

Broadwater responded angrily: “You’re talking about the poorest city in this county. Where are we going to get these relocation funds?”

Haster Gardens residents maintain that their apartments have leaky roofs, moldy walls and often lack heat and running water.

The four elected officials and Orange County Supervisor Charles V. Smith toured the complex last week and declared the living conditions to be “deplorable.”

Since October, city inspectors have tagged 31 of the complex’s 148 units as uninhabitable.