Pubdate: Sun, 28 Sep 2008 Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON) Copyright: 2008 The Ottawa Citizen Contact: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/letters.html Website: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326 Author: Bruno Schlumberger WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE RIFF-RAFF MOVE IN Lepage Manor, a public housing project in Carlington, is being overrun by druggies, hookers and other desperadoes, but authorities are trying to clean it up in the hope that tenants and nearby residents can feel safe again. Crackheads, muggers, hookers and many frightened residents. Greetings from Lepage Avenue, a mix of modest homes and an Ottawa Community Housing project called Lepage Manor, not far from where Kirkwood Avenue meets Merivale Road. Most of the rent collected by the city's housing corporation from the 309 one-bedroom units from 1390 and 1400 Lepage is based on tenants' income. And most tenants are either unemployed or "underemployed" -- meaning they make very little money and their rent subsidy is adjusted accordingly. Only eight tenants at Lepage Manor are actually paying market-value rent, according to River Councillor Maria McRae, and many who are subsidized are battling personal problems, such as substance abuse and mental illness. The Lepage apartments are a few streets over from the much larger Ottawa housing project on Caldwell Avenue, where, of course, there is more trouble, and good reason to be sick to death of being scared. At 1390 and 1400 Lepage, residents say it's not uncommon to run into desperadoes, whether they're men or women, buzzing up to suspected drug suppliers who live in some of the units. Barb Derick, who lives at 1390 Lepage, said it's routine to be aggressively asked for money, cigarettes or even prescription painkillers by people in the hallways, on the street or loitering at the front door of her apartment building. And hookers are more than willing to provide their services outdoors, which might explain the used condom and condom wrappers I saw around the Ottawa housing property on Friday. Disturbances, including heated arguments, fist-fights and even muggings by drug addicts in need of money for a fix, have been part of the culture for years, says a resident who lives in a house near the apartments. The trouble seems to have started after the housing agency decided that the buildings, built in the mid-1970s and now in need of an estimated $5 million to $6 million in renovations, would accommodate tenants in all age brackets and not just seniors. Another tenant, who moved there in 1992, about the time the building lost its seniors-only designation, can't believe how the quality of life in the building has changed, especially in the last five or six years. Besides the troublemakers, he said the problem is compounded by their friends, many of them vagrants who are looking for places to crash and show up at all times of the night. After having lived at 1390 Lepage for seven years, 50-year-old Derick, who says she suffers from an anxiety disorder, has convinced the housing agency to move her to a quieter project as soon as possible. "It's really a terrible situation." said Derick. Some Lepage residents, especially those who live in the houses across the street from the apartment buildings, are also worried about the comings and goings at a nearby bungalow. It's the home of Jim Ryan, an elderly man who has lived there for years. McRae said the home is known as a flophouse to authorities. A nearby neighbour said she's really not as worried about her safety as she is for Ryan's. She thinks Ryan's seedy acquaintances are taking advantage of him because he is a kind man and can't say no when asked for help. She said Ryan may not even be aware of some of things that have gone on at his property. "There's too much weirdness going on in there," she said. A pensioner, Ryan admitted a few days ago that he has allowed unsavoury types into his home over the last couple of years (neighbours say he has actually been associating with them for about five years) and even rented a room out to a couple. But, swore Ryan, he gradually got rid of them as he discovered their bad habits -- crack cocaine, nasty, explosive behaviour and the tendency to get into trouble with police. "They're gone and they're not coming back," Ryan told The Public Citizen in a short interview during which his phone rang three times from callers looking for a ride. One wanted to go to Penny Drive, situated in a troubled low-rent neighbourhood near Bayshore. Ryan said he regularly taxis acquaintances from Lepage Manor in his minivan to earn money. He takes one of his regular riders for methadone treatments. Nearby neighbours said they have heard or seen little coming from Ryan's house for the last couple of weeks. Apparently, a friend of a relative recently moved in and is there to turn away the riff-raff when they show up. A young couple also moved in some time ago following a fire at their home. The woman, who was there when I visited him this week, seemed pleasant and said she was helping clean up Ryan's unkempt house. I wanted to suggest she bring in a bulldozer. When I revisited the neighborhood Friday, two "No Trespassing" signs were up in Ryan's front yard. Minutes later, I saw him drive to 1390 Lepage, where he waited momentarily before he drove back home alone. Ryan's neighbours, meanwhile, said it has been unnerving to hear the blood-curdling screams and incessant yelling that have come from Ryan's house over the years. Police, they say, have been to the house from time to time. One neighbour said it's not unusual for her car to be ransacked, and belongings have disappeared from her carport. Her 13-year-old lives in fear that Ryan's acquaintances will break into their home. Her house is equipped with two burglar alarms, though an adult is usually always at home for fear of being burglarized. Ottawa police, meanwhile, won't comment on "a particular address," although Insp. Jill Skinner said "it was raised at a (recent) community meeting. This isn't the first time that we've heard about it." Police have increased their presence on Lepage and are focusing on trouble areas identified at the community meeting. Skinner identified drug use and street prostitution among the problems. Like police, McRae and Jo-Anne Poirier, chief executive of Ottawa Community Housing, stress the need for residents to be more vigilant and to call police immediately when they detect trouble. "One of the things we are finding is that we are not receiving enough information from the community in a timely manner," Skinner said. "(Residents) will come to a community meeting three months after the incident and tell us there is a problem ... quite often, by the time they come to the community meeting and we assess it, the problem has moved to a different address." One way police hope that changes is through a new Neighbourhood Watch program. McRae said 24 households joined the program at the recent community meeting. Though an officer is available in the Lepage apartments one morning every week for tenants to discuss concerns, and police surveillance has been increased, police presence isn't the only way to help improve the quality of life in the community, Skinner said. Poirier said the housing agency is hoping its "Healthy Community Initiative," introduced last May, will also help improve life for its Lepage tenants. The program encourages residents to get involved through programs such as Neighbourhood Watch, to take advantage of services provided by Ottawa Housing and to form tenants' associations that could, among other things, plan social events such as barbecues, bingos and spring cleanups. "When people see they can be part of the solution, there are results," Poirier said. But, said a senior living at 1390 Lepage: "Nobody wants to get involved in anything here" because of the troublemakers who live there. For now anyway, the housing agency, with the help of police and McRae, seem determined to clean up the problem. McRae promises to monitor the situation. So will The Public Citizen to see if things in and around Lepage Manor finally calm down. Is anything broken or bugging you where you live? Please let us know. E-mail: --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin