Waukegan officials rap Section 8 housing units

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Waukegan police squads parked in front of Lakeside Tower at 200 N. Genesee St. on the day of the fatal carjacking. | Thomas Delany Jr~ Sun-Times Media

Updated: March 5, 2012 1:53AM

Waukegan City Council reaction to last week’s shooting death of a Hickory Street resident included discussion of Section 8 housing policies, as officials noted Tuesday that two suspects where apprehended in Lakeside Tower, a Julian Street complex that accepts the rental-assistance vouchers.

“200 Julian has been a problem building as long as I’ve been alderman,” said 6th Ward Ald. Larry TenPas, using the address of a facility known as The Towers. He added that “we need stronger guidelines” about how Section 8 is administered in the city.

“How many Section 8 certificates should a community of our size take compared to some other wealthier communities?” TenPas said. “I think we’re at a crossroads. ... I know people are in need, I understand that, but I think we have more (Section 8 housing) than our share.”

Mayor Robert Sabonjian said he feels problems associated with Section 8 housing “are not going to go away by getting rid of one problem building — it’s going to have to be a systemic answer across the city.”

“This is not necessarily focused on that location,” said Sabonjian, “but I have to say, it almost seems like we’re going to have to make a choice in this city. ... Are we going to allow the number of units with that type of housing for Section 8 (residents) to continue to grow and continue to fester?”

The 13-story, 150-unit Lakeside apartment complex at 200 Julian St. opened in 1969 as Waukegan Towers. It was built with funding assistance from the Federal Housing Authority and was originally seen as part of a downtown revitalization.

By the early 1980s, the building featured federally subsidized units and began to suffer from crime and building-code violations. Local activist Margaret Carrasco told the council Tuesday night that “the number of arrests and incidents that occur there far surpass anywhere else in the city. Enough is enough.”

Carrasco, noting that the two suspects located inside The Towers had criminal records, added that she believes current Lakeside management “does not care and is not checking” the backgrounds of tenant applicants as required. Later in the meeting, 1st Ward Ald. Sam Cunningham echoed that theme.

“When management doesn’t step in and run the building the way it’s supposed to be run, with a family environment, then you get what you get,” Cunningham said. “Don’t blame it on Section 8, blame it on the way it’s being managed, and that’s where we come in.”

Cunningham, who noted that he grew up in public housing, added “will there be bad people (in Section 8 housing)? I’m here to tell you, there’s going to be that. But you can’t blame the 95-97 percent of the residents who are families that need help.”

Third Ward Ald. Gregory Moisio agreed with the need to monitor building managers, saying “there’s bad landlords, and all they want is that government check.” But he added that the city has limited resources to crack down on housing issues.

“200 Julian is the poster boy, the black eye of Section 8,” said Moisio, adding that “we all know plenty of guys who came out of The Towers who turned out great,” but the federal government needs to assist the city in addressing criminal activity at the site.

Sabonjian said he made public safety at Lakeside Towers a priority early in his term, saying management “did what was requested of them, and then things slipped back. We’re not through at that location, that’s the best I can tell you at this point. We’re not done.”