Council approves $250,000 to house Cinema 21 families
 By Gene Maddaus
Pasadena Star News Staff Writer, http://www.pasadenastarnews.com
July 14, 2003

PASADENA -- The City Council voted Monday night to spend an extra $250,000 on hotel stays for 22 families evacuated from the Cinema 21 apartment building three months ago.

Only 11 of the families who were forced out of the building after inspectors discovered toxic mold have found new apartments, said Frank Clark, executive director of the Ecumenical Council of Pasadena Area Churches.

City officials hope to have the remaining families into new housing by Sept. 15, said John Depew, the city's program coordinator.

The church group has helped place the homeless families in hotels, but the initial city grant of $175,000 has run out, Clark said.

"Resolving the housing question I think was more difficult than we originally anticipated,' Clark said.

The residents, who were paying an average of $500 per month for small one-bedroom apartments, have had a hard time finding affordable housing in Pasadena. Most of them work in Pasadena and have children in Pasadena schools. Many do not have cars, and could not commute from long distances, Clark said.

Thirty-four units were evacuated from the dilapidated building on Washington Boulevard which was condemned in early April, forcing out 49 children and 62 adults.

"This was huge and very unexpected,' Clark said.

Richard Bruckner, the city's planning director, said the city has hired a private firm to help place tenants in new apartments. Of the 22 households that remain in hotels, 13 have "strong leads' on new housing, Depew said.

"We would like to have them settled,' Bruckner said. "We're trying to work with the displaced tenants in a very difficult situation.'

Councilwoman Joyce Streator raised the point at Monday's meeting that it's important to have families placed in new housing by Sept. 1, so children are settled for the start of the school year.

Depew said after the meeting that the Sept. 15 date is "conservative' and he expected that most would be in new homes before then.

Clark agreed, saying that the process of finding new apartments has gained momentum. He said that a couple of stragglers may still be homeless into next year, but the vast majority should be settled by fall.

The city prosecutor, Connie Orozco, said Monday that she expects to make a decision "soon' on whether to file charges against the landlord, Norman Furman of San Diego.

City inspectors found the toxic mold in the apartment building after receiving several complaints about maintenance there. The mold can cause severe health problems, such as infections and respiratory ailments, health experts have said.

Several units were evacuated in February when rain poured through holes in the roof.