Now that Colorado Springs has formal tenants’ associations set up at two publicly subsidized low-income housing complexes, residents — who are largely disabled or elderly — say they’re trying to figure out how to get their needs addressed.

Dissatisfied with how it’s going so far, COS Tenants, a group of residents from the newly formed Acacia Park Tenants Association and the 3-year-old Centennial Plaza Tenants Association, held a rally and then picketed Thursday in front of the Colorado Springs Housing Authority’s downtown office.

Waving signs with messages such as “Tenants Deserve Safe and Secure Housing” and “COS Housing Authority Bargain Now,” about 40 participants called for an in-person meeting with the agency’s management. They also yelled chants led by leaders with bullhorns, such as “Tenants’ rights are under attack! What do we do? Fight back.”

“We want to share our ideas, our concerns and maybe even some possible solutions that we can work on collaboratively with management,” said Betty Field, one of the key organizers at Centennial Plaza Apartments.

Members of COS Tenants said they spent months listening to neighbors’ concerns, which they say are widespread in both buildings and include safety and security issues, management’s treatment of residents, a seeming lack of accountability and transparency, and work orders not being filled.

A dispute erupted because tenants want a face-to-face meeting with officials, and they say their request has not been met.

“They’ve worked hard to get to this point, and the preference is to have open, productive dialogue,” said Max Kronstadt, founder of COS Pro-Housing Partnership, an advocacy group that’s advising the tenants’ union.

The housing authority has protocols for grievances, said the quasi-governmental agency’s Interim Executive Director Paul Spencer. That’s handled by going to the housing authority board of commissioners.

“The forum for tenants or the public to voice their concerns directly to the Board of Commissioners is at the monthly board meeting during the ‘citizens discussion’ portion of the agenda,” he wrote in an email to The Gazette. “Concerns or comments can also be submitted in writing should they choose to do so.”

Tenants say some association members attended the housing authority’s September meeting.

“After that meeting, their leadership informed us that they don’t believe negotiations over the list of proposed changes we want to discuss with them are necessary,” states a letter the tenants’ group sent to Colorado Springs City Council this week.

Spencer requested to receive the complaints in writing, but residents said they won’t hand them over until they’ve scheduled an in-person session to hash out the problems they’ve identified.

“We have over 100 outstanding work orders at Centennial Plaza alone,” Field said. “If we give him a list, we’re not confident our list wouldn’t be placed with the 100 unfinished work orders. We want to sit down and talk.”

She said the work orders range from minor to serious repair needs in apartments, from sewage repeatedly backing up in one unit’s kitchen sink to a constantly running toilet to a latch on a screen door not working properly and the owner’s cat escaping.

Some of the requests have been pending for more than a year, Field said.

“Our voices still matter,” she said. “We are begging at this point to be heard.”

The Colorado Springs Housing Authority, which is funded by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, issues Section 8 vouchers to help qualifying low-income individuals and families pay their rent.

The organization also owns and manages 706 single-family and multi-family affordable homes in El Paso County for low-income, elderly and disabled residents.

The agency also offers other affordable units that fall under specific categories under federal housing regulations.

Former Executive Director Chad Wright retired from the housing authority in September and moved to Fort Collins, Spencer said. 

“The board has retained the services of a third-party to conduct a nationwide search, which is currently in process,” he said.