Aurora tenants say they've had enough of landlords turning a blind eye to their problems — and it's time for city council to step in.
Dozens of protesters gathered at Fletcher Plaza in downtown Aurora on August 12 to demonstrate and voice their disapproval with Aurora's lackadaisical approach to bad landlords, with tenants claiming there's not enough being done to protect local renters when a problem arises or they're living in horrid conditions.
Holding up posters with pictures and descriptions of their miserable living conditions, protesters from EC3 and allied groups called on the Aurora City Council to make legislative changes that would offer "relocation assistance" to tenants forced out by problems inside their residences and also lead to tougher code enforcement of landlords.
"The situation is, frankly, that landlords are not being held accountable," says Nate Kassa, a community organizer for the East Colfax Community Collective, aka EC3, which planned the demonstration.
"They're not being held accountable to make sure residents have the bare minimum: safe and healthy housing conditions that every human deserves," he tells Westword.
"They're not being held accountable to make sure residents have the bare minimum: safe and healthy housing conditions that every human deserves," he tells Westword.
Holding up posters with pictures and descriptions of their miserable living conditions, protesters from EC3 and allied groups called on the Aurora City Council to make legislative changes that would offer "relocation assistance" to tenants forced out by problems inside their residences and also lead to tougher code enforcement of landlords.
"We've seen in several cases where tenants will be in absolutely unbearable living conditions," Kassa explains. "Residents have to pay; they have to have an extra burden to live in a hotel and pay that money while landlords live scot-free."
Michael Lunsford, a protester with EC3, said during a speech at the rally that his unit is infested with "mice, spiders [and] flies" — and that his landlord has yet to do anything about it.
"In the year and half that I've spent at the place that I'm in here in Aurora, I've had a refrigerator that wasn't working for a month, I had a toilet that did not work for three months; I've also had four major floods," Lunsford said. "I'm here to stick my middle finger up at bad landlords and demand better protection for all tenants."
Allegations of "broken appliances," "no smoke detector" and "poorly maintained staircases" were plastered on protest posters Saturday during the demonstration, which saw about seventy protesters blaring music from speakers and chanting "Many cultures, one voice" in several languages — including Spanish, Karen and Swahili.
Despite the festive vibe, protesters were serious about their frustrations with their landlords and Aurora officials.
Clementine Gasimba, a refugee from Congo who has been in Colorado for nine years, lives on Yosemite Street and East Colfax Avenue with her two children, and says her unit currently has no heating or cooling.
"I have a child, he is two years old," Gasimba says. "Imagine him spending all day naked because he's too hot and he can't handle the heat. That is not something good."
When it's cold, "I have to put over me like three blankets," she says. To make matters worse, there's a leaky ceiling in the unit. "We demand the [Aurora City] Council find a solution to our problems."
Saturday's protest was organized with the help of members of the Grassroots Leadership Council, a coalition of community members and business owners put together by EC3 to advocate for issues across west Aurora and East Colfax. EC3 is pushing for Aurora City Council to pass an ordinance that would protect tenants through stricter code enforcement, protection from landlord retaliation and "relocation assistance," or money to support tenants forced to live in hotels because they find themselves in awful living conditions.
Protesters hold up signs and shout through megaphones at passing cars on East Colfax during a demonstration for tenant rights on Saturday.
Bennito L. Kelty
"The mold was so bad and there were so many floods frequently," Kassa remembers. "They probably went to the hospital once every couple months. They had to actually leave to a hotel, and they had to pay out of pocket for that hotel."
As for code enforcement, Kassa tells Westword Aurora needs to have practices in place that ensure "the inspectors actually document that landlords are actually fixing the issues to a safe and livable degree." Protesters said they also wanted protection for tenants that will allow them to speak out against abusive and inattentive landlords without fear of reprisals.
"As a refugee, I'm afraid of speaking out," says Gasimba, who is a member of the Grassroots Leadership Council. "Sometimes they threaten us that if you report your landlord or house management, they may try and keep you from being able to rent again or own a home. Some of us keep quiet because we don't have who to speak for us, so we demand the law speak for us."
Many tenants worry about their landlords not renewing their lease if they speak out, Kassa says, through a tactic he calls "non-renewal retaliation."
"It's like an eviction, and they can basically do it at their whim," Kassa says. "We want tenants protected from non-renewal retaliation and from retaliation as a whole. A lot of people in this community are immigrants and refugees, and they're even more especially scared to speak out against their landlords sometimes."
EC3 has already spoken with members of the Aurora City Council about getting this ordinance passed, Kassa adds. Aurora City Councilman Juan Marcano — who is also running for mayor of Aurora in the city elections on November 7 — was present at the weekend protest, holding up a sign that read "Aurora Renters Demand Healthy Homes" at passing cars on East Colfax.
Speaking to Westword on Tuesday, August 15, Marcano said he has "a pair of ordinances [he's] bringing forward to address the tenant concerns."
EC3 leaders plan to bring attention to their grievances through the upcoming city elections on November 7. The group plans to hold a candidate forum to hear mayoral and city council candidates talk about how they plan to improve housing. EC3 ultimately wants "any councilmember who is running for election or for re-election making housing a top priority," Kassa says.
Councilwoman Alison Coombs, who is on a housing committee for Aurora City Council and running for an at-large seat, says that she supports the position of tenants and has been making housing a priority in her campaign.
Even though Coombs' Ward 5 is on the other side of Aurora from East Colfax, she says that her constituents were part of the protest as well, and have reported landlord harassment to her offices.
"Definitely I've had tenants reach out about these very same issues that live in my district," Coombs says. "As a tenant if you call code enforcement about these issues, you don't get a response that then resolves the issue or leads to the landlord resolving those issues. For many people it leads to harassment and retaliation."
Kassa warns, "We're going to educate the community on a mass scale. If candidates aren't going to take housing seriously, it's going to show in the ballots."
