Update

Two tenants left the complex. One to go to Fuller seminary, the others are doing global missions. We had a mtng with Elaine, Angie and David. They gave us hope and insight to what's going on behind the curtains.

We created a Facebook group for better communication with each other. Anthony is also looking for a pin board we can use to put up around the complex as a community board.

JD gave me clearance to get supplies from Home Depot for the laundry room. Going to buy a lock and some keys to distribute to tenants.

Anna Jacobsen has been without air conditioning for a week and JD servicemen have been vague as to developments. I contacted Pa, she said he will come tm morning- if not I feel it may be last straw for Anna.

Pray for our community. Mike and his gf are still fighting, Anthony was around an able to calm situation down. JD doesn't have her down on paperwork and want me to kick her out. Their relationship is unhealthy, need to find a way to connect.

CAUGHT

Caught 2 JD Home construction workers in apartment 102 with 2 prostitutes. Notified JD, they told me to email the picture of the licence i took and said they would let their supervisor know. This happened yesterday around 4:30 pm.

last week, had one of the tenants come over because he was beating his gf the night before in the courtyard. Cops came but found no markings, she protected herself on the ground pretty well. Told the tenant if it happens again he will be evicted. Gf said she was moving out but she has been around lately.

Gross.

Found out there are cockroach eggs in my coffee pot and I have been brewing them for awhile now. Yum.

Toured the place to more tenants, all christian and down for living in biblical community. Our biggest strength against the agency will be our unity. I am excited!

Finding problems

Fixing Some Problems


Waiting to hear back from JD about letting me take on more responsibilities and getting paid to fix things. Don't want to enable JD Homes, rather than having them help take on their problems as well. Almost the same situation as a drug addict that asks for spare change. Should I pay and fix things out of my own pocket, or should JD?

New Tenants!

Tom and Kendall Adlard now live in #209.

They are getting officially married soon but until then one of them is going to stay in the new digs until they get married next month. There apartment is so nice! 

Looking forward to the days to come.

Unforseen Vacancy

I am not sure but I think the people who lived in the apartment with the mold in it, are no longer living there. Not sure what happened, if JD evicted them or offered them another apartment. But their blinds are drawn closed and nobody answered the door. If I don't see any change in a few days I will just assume that they are gone.

The 15 year old, neighborhood tough, Izzy and I are starting to talk a lot more too. Which is cool. We will see where that goes...

Not much else to update on.

Attemptive Break In (into my apartment and not into my heart)

So as you can see, the purp tried to get in by busting the handle off by force. The handle on both sides has two indentations where the tool they were using was trying to break it off. I left my apartment last night and stayed at my grandma's working on editing videos there cause I can get Internet there, than during the day I was with Katie. So the incident could've happened at anytime between 10 pm Sunday night to 8:30 pm Monday (Valentines Day).

The lock on the bottom was the one I changed from a crappy, cheap, plastic one JD had put to the solid, heavy Home Depot (9 bucks) one I had purchased. Is it coincidence that this one was messed with and not the top? Because JD has a key to my top lock but not my home depot one. Is it also coincidence that they started to work on the apartment next door today too? Or was it the kid and his friends that i kicked out last night cause they were trying to play beer pong in his old apartment? Not sure. All I have is suspicion but I am going to go tomorrow to home depot to get a new one. Even though I have nothing really of too much value in my apartment, I am thankful it was a mess that got prevented.

Wyatt Earp

On Sun, Feb 13, 2011 at 6:06 PM, James Rutledge <jimirutledge@gmail.com> wrote:

Its # 105, see attachment for a picture. Its size is a foot and a half in length.

On Fri, Feb 11, 2011 at 12:08 PM, Esko Siipola <> wrote:

James,
Why don't you give me the unit number and I'll "push the issue" a bit and get Miguel to come meet us on site. You're doing a great job, don't get frustrated, remember they have lots of properties to deal with.........Thanks, Esko

-----Original Message-----
From: James Rutledge [mailto:jimirutledge@gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, February 11, 2011 11:37 AM
To: Esko Siipola
Subject: meeting/mold

hey esko,

Just wondering if you were able to scheduale a meeting with miguel and david. I think it needs to happen at this point. Miguel seems neglectful when I am approaching him on things like mold in one of my tenants apartments. In fact, he flat out ignored me today... So not sure really what to do at this point and hoping a meeting can happen.


james

I was pretty upset with Miguel. I called him and told him on his voicemail that next time I am going to have to hold him down and pin him to the ground to talk to him (I was pretty frustrated). Anyway, I will have to apologize when that conversation comes up.

So yeah, not sure how to handle the mold issue. Its in Esko's hands now (if it is a big deal). I looked up on the internet the hazards of having mold and it seems like it can create some pretty bad conditions for a person's lungs. We'll see what happens...

So the tenant next door to me, the 19 year old kid who I suspected of dealing attempted to come back last night with a group of his friends and have a party in his apartment. He didn't pay rent for this month, and was given an eviction notice to vacate by the 18th. Thinking this meant he could have a party... I quickly redirected his thinking and became like Wyatt Earp and told him that he and his friends need to go play beer pong somewhere else. I was pretty stern about it.

I am starting to realize how difficult this is going to be. Not impossible, but difficult. As of right now, I feel like I am simply floating, like down the San Joaquin. Not sure what gross and disgusting things are beneath the surface, not sure what direction the river is taking me to, but I do know this; as long as I can control my temper and stop getting frustrated over people I should expect to be a jerk, hopefully I will have a grip more on things. I can't control JD's negligence or apathy, but who I am in this process is up to me. I need to remain faithful.

Waiting

So I called Miguel yesterday about the mold in apartment #105 and he put me on hold, and then I got hung up on. Not sure if it was intentional, but I called him back right away and left a message on his voicemail. I figure I will wait a few days and try again and if no immediate response, I will let Esko know with code enforcement.

I have also been emailing Esko about setting up a meeting with David Hovenisian, Miguel, Phil and I to sit down and have a blunt conversation on expectations of each other and what our goal is with the complex. I feel like this is vital to me being here because to be honest, I am not exactly sure what my purpose is here as far as what JD Homes expects from me.

When they made me sign some forms to move in, they also made me sign something that says I owe them 500 bucks a month. I was dumb, and when Pa (office manager) said "I am going to write this here but you don't have to actually pay us" I took her for her word. But Bryan Feil brought it up that if they ever wanted to, they could bring that up in the future and say I owe months of rent because on paper it says so. Not sure if that is a position I want to be in.

Anyway, my life group from The Well is meeting this Saturday to tour the Lowell neighborhood. Should be fun, one of them has been a cop for 23 years... he should bring a great perspective. I am pumped to show them the complex as well.

"Be therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." Matthew 10:16

A Jenny Jones Makeover

The outside is starting to look really good. Its definitely changed a lot and I think people in the neighborhood are starting to notice. I was taking pictures of this and then Veronica and Fred who live behind me told me to check out some stuff in their apartment. They told me they have lived in the complex for a few years and they hope that these conditions can change as the renovations are happening:

(leak from roof, in shower)

I am going to call Miguel, the head construction guy and see what can happen. That mold is disgusting. I will post an update as soon as it happens. As far as the mouse in my apartment, Katies' cat is still working on that.

The Call

Made my first 911 call tonight. After walking my rounds around the complex I found a group of teenage kids in the alley and a fight was starting. I called the cops but because my stupid phone's touch screen app sucks so bad it took forever to get through. Once I hung up the fight happened and was over in a few minutes.

I go to back to my apartment and kick it with my neighbor a bit, who is 19 and renting from JD. He told me about Rent-a-center, and his HBO. I am pretty sure he dealing drugs to pay for all of it and his schooling but he moves out tomorrow so nothing much I can do about that.

Anyway, I'm talking to my neighbor for awhile and then one of the fighters from the alley walks up and talks to us (hands busted and covered in blood). His name is Izzey and he is 15 with a baby on the way; which I guess is what started the fight with his baby's mama's brother. He had a few cuts, like a boxer, around his right eye.

I got a small mouse in my apartment as well. Just put traps out and hopefully will catch something in the morning. I don't even know what I'm gonna do with it if I do get a live one.

My neighbor said too that the complex looks a lot better than when he moved in. Testimony to progress is encouraging.

James 3:18
Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.

Yesterday I met with Angie Isaak and Esko Siipola. One does code enforcement in Lowell and the other handles the Police issues. It was good to know that they would help me and collaborate with me on the apartments and surrounding neighborhood. They asked me "How did you get involved with something like this?" and I started to talk about Pink House and FIFUL and then they say; "Oh, Phil!" and they said they were all for me after that if I was with him.

Apparently, the last police call response to my apartments was on January 12th (before I moved in) and apparently two guys were fighting and one was using a bottle rocket.

Monday, I might be showing potential new tenants (my friends as well) the complex. Mixed income community is what I am hoping for. With Fulton 55 opening this Friday, more people will definitely wanna live in the area and be apart of the downtown community.


Digging for treasure:

Proverbs 22:2

Rich and poor have this in common:
   The Lord is the Maker of them all

There is a rolling gate now for the other half of the apartment tenants (even though they don't exist yet; but when they do exist, so will their cars the next day).



Talked to the Market owner across the street and he was saying he's been in the neighborhood for 6 years. He told me he's seen a lot, especially transience.I would like to talk to him more and see what specifics he would like to see change in the neighborhood and maybe partner with him on the ones he says that favor the Los Pinos as well.

On a final note, I saw the Lowell Horseman today. This guy rides around Lowell on a huge Clydesdale horse. I remember KMPH did a story on him one time and I believe he does what he does as a ministry thing. A pretty cool form of Redistribution.

No response back from Pa yet about The Hole.

Proverbs 22:16
One who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and one who gives gifts to the rich—both come to poverty.

The Hole

Found this hole (possibly for a mouse), behind my stove and emailed JD about it this morning. Not sure what they are going to tell me but hopefully it can be patched up somehow. For the time being I just drenched a rag with bug spray and shoved it into the hole.


Lets see how fast I get a response.


My Email:

Pa,

Found this hole that's behind the stove, was wondering what the procedure is to get it fixed.

Also, so stoked about the work going on here, especially the gated carports they are working on here. That's awesome. Totally going to raise the desirability of the complex.

Thanks Pa,

James

New Sprinkler System!

This was the stuff they were putting between the concrete and dirt.

Katie's cat, Bentley, enjoying the view!

This iron gate was added as protection for tenant's cars that are parked near the alley. Thankful for this because it makes the apartment complex much more desirable and safer to control pedestrians from just walking through the complex. Thanks JD!


Now just waiting for AT&t to fix this pole.

PEA PARTY: (Poor Enough Already)

I was standing in line at Chipotle when I got the call. It was a woman whose name was Pa Xiong and she told me I was a candidate for a job as property manager with JD Home Rentals. I remember feeling weird when she told me she worked for JD Homes, they have a very peculiar reputation. However, after eating a much enjoyed burrito, I told her I was interested.

This is a great opportunity. This was her email to me explaining my 'job description'.

James,

This is an open entry level position.  It will require you to live on site.  Your duties will be to show units to prospective tenants, report all illegal activities, clean the grounds, and participate with the Lowell Neighborhood Revitalization Project.  You will be compensated with an apartment and we may be able to give you a salary if you are willing to take on more responsibilities such as renting the property and preparing the contracts and collecting rent.

Hope to hear from you.

Pa 

Let me tell you a little bit about the complex.

Her name is Los Pinos and she rests at 103 N Fulton, Fresno California.

 

(Photo not current)

Los Pinos was built in the year of our Lord, 1981. The previous owner before JD was a man from Salinas, Ca. He employed a bulldog gang member as Landlord, who rented out the apartments to other bulldog gang members. From what I am told, the owner never questioned anything about it because he always got his rent on time.

Anyway, long story short, the Owner goes into foreclosure on his complex and JD Homes takes it up after.

I had my friend Andrew from Every Neighborhood Partnership come out to take a look around at the complex, and I think he saw the minimal effort of work that is being done on the rehabilitation of the complex. One example he told me was that the windows they are using aren't even really glass, but more or less a type of fiber glass. Cheaper than glass. But on the other hand, they are being accountable to the city. He noticed how they were putting a rubber latex between the lawn and the concrete because it was a newly appointed code.

I am a little disappointed, but not surprised. One of the rental agreement papers they had me sign was one that said I accept the apartment as it is and any damages and such are liable to me and not JD Homes. So... after looking at the 10 coats of paint on my walls, the cracks around the crown molding that cockroaches travel through and the bumpy tile floor- and I mean San Francisco bumpy- I can see how a desperate renter could fall victim to a sub-standard. Andrew said he would love to work on Los Pinos for JD, but when I asked Pa about it, she said that 'liability' was an issue and could not have him work on the property.




The complex currently has 6 tenants and 19 vacancies. 500 a month.

Jordan, Josh and Erik are most likely going to be moving into the complex in May/June. I am excited about that and excited about the community we could build together. I think they are too. So this blog will help me keep account of the events, progress and losses that are encountered at Los Pinos.

Anyways, I gotta call AT&T, a pole in the alley has a swinging pendulum that kids are using to thrash the surrounding area. Wish me luck.





From Fresno.gov :

• "...The City will consider funding for other projects throughout the year as they are submitted to the City. As projects are selected for funding recommendations, they will individually be taken through the citizen participation process as identified in the City’s Citizen Participation Plan... Los Pinos ‐ Predevelopment activities are underway to prepare for the acquisition and moderate rehabilitation of the existing Los Pinos Apartments complex. Moderate rehabilitation will be performed to the interior, exterior, and grounds of the complex. The Los Pinos Apartments complex is located at 103 Fulton Avenue in the Fulton/Lowell area northwest of downtown Fresno, Census Tract 6. The project cost is estimated at $14 million of which approximately $600,000 in HOME Program funds is proposed to help finance the acquisition and rehabilitation activities. An estimated $8 million in HUD Section 223(f) Program funds is expected to provide the primary funding stream for the project, with the balance of financing to come from other investments. The estimated completion date of the project is scheduled for May 2011. Once completed the project will consist of 24 (1‐bed/1‐bath) units of affordable housing...."

(Table/Text available at SOURCE on Page 11 for the HOME Investment Partnership for 2010-2011 Fiscal Year)

Isaiah 58:12

 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
   and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
   Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.