Englewood Officials Demand Answers in Senior Center Prostitution Scandal

Members of the Englewood Housing Authority, which has faced intense media scrutiny since news of a drug and prostitution bust at a senior citizens complex broke last week, downplayed the severity of the situation Monday at the board’s first meeting since the scandal went viral.

“It’s nowhere near as bad as they seem to make it. It’s out of proportion,” Housing Authority Chairman Ira Dermansky said of the arrests of two fifth-floor tenants on drug and nuisance charges. “We have two tenants who are crazy and it’s insanity. They’re gone. It’s gone. End of the problem. When you see us two weeks from now you won’t know of anything going on.”

Since the arrests in late April, three Englewood police officers — one from each shift — have monitored the 152-unit Vincente K. Tibbs Senior Citizen Building on a continual basis. Executive director Maria Iwano said that one of the tenants charged in the sting had been evicted last week and that the other had agreed to voluntarily vacate the building by June 30. A new policy adopted by the board last month allows it to bar unwanted guests from the complex after they’ve been served with a trespassing notice.

“As far as I’m concerned, between the chief and Maria, they’ve done a wonderful job,” Dermansky said. “They’ve got everything under control right now.”

At the request of Wayne Hamer, who sits on the board as a liaison to the city council, the Housing Authority agreed to schedule a community meeting with Police Chief Arthur O’Keefe to update the board and the building’s tenants on the ongoing police investigation and on what additional steps, if any, the board can take to keep its senior residents safe.

“To the degree that we can know, we just need to know as much as possible about what is going on and what isn’t going on and if there are holes that we need to address as a board,” Hamer said. “We need to collectively have a conversation and understand exactly where it is.”

Neither the board’s members nor Mayor Frank Huttle, who attended Monday’s meeting, could say whether the around-the-clock police patrols at the complex would be made permanent.

“The police will keep this fully secure and they’ll make their determination, but right now this is what we have,” said Huttle, who opted not to make any commitment until he meets again with the police chief.

Dermansky said he didn’t believe a permanent police presence was necessary at the senior complex, but that police would be available if circumstances warranted.

“When this calms down, we won’t need [security] anymore,” he said, noting that budget constraints had forced the building to make do without a security guard for the past two decades. “If we need them they’ll be there. If we don’t need them, we don’t need them.”

Assemblyman Gordon Johnson, who said he attended the meeting after hearing complaints from a constituent whose father lives in the Tibbs complex, pressed the board on how long it had known that allegedly illicit activity was going on there.

Iwano, who started as director of the housing authority in January, said residents began coming to her with complaints from virtually the moment she took over.

As a result, she assembled a community meeting on March 5, so that the building’s tenants could air their concerns to police.

“I wanted the police to come in and speak to the tenants and find out exactly what was going on and get them involved and have some kind of security,” Iwano said. “I wanted [the tenants] to feel better about being here. I wanted them to know that we were concerned about their safety.”

Following the March meeting, at which residents complained about drunks, unwanted guests roaming the building and condoms found in common areas, Englewood police set up an undercover operation at the complex.

In late April, police . Police said Parham, who pleaded not guilty to the charges last week, confessed to providing prostitutes, described as mostly crack-addicted women, to visitors and residents in the senior complex. Chaney is also accused of possession of crack cocaine 

Johnson, a former police officer, expressed concern about the length of time from the community meeting until the arrests were made, but said he was content that at least work had been done to ameliorate residents’ concerns.

“The bottom line is, you’re correcting the problem, along with the police department,” he said. “March 5 to now is kind of a long time to me, but that is what it is.”

Lifelong resident Theresa Thomas wasn’t as forgiving in her comments to the board.

The Englewood Democratic Municipal Committee chairwoman excoriated the housing authority for what she characterized as its failure to take responsibility for the incident and said it needed to get to the bottom of how such activities were let to occur in the first place. 

“Listening to your earlier discussion, I heard no sense of accountability or responsibility. Nothing,” Thomas said during the meeting's public comment portion. “You’re responsible for what goes on here and you’re responsible for these seniors and you’re responsible for their safety. You’re responsible for this place to be run well, safely, and it didn’t happen.”

Mayor Frank Huttle said he believed media coverage of the senior citizens scandal was overblown, but still urged the board to use the experience as an opportunity to self-evaluate. He expressed confidence that both Iwano and the police had done their jobs accordingly and said he authorized the police chief to do whatever it takes to keep the community safe.

“Everybody needs to know in this city — and particularly the most vulnerable — that we’re here to protect them,” he said.

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