Bed bugs a concern at Channel Park Homes

Exterminators sprayed two apartments at the Channel Park Homes for bed bugs earlier this month after tenants reported the problem to the Long Beach Housing Authority, but officials are hoping others who might be dealing with the issue will step forward as well.

“We sent out notices informing people to let us know,” said Mike Cruz, executive director of the Housing Authority. “We’re planning on having a seminar next month regarding bed bugs and what [tenants] have to do as a preventive maintenance, so we’re working on all these things.”

The 108-unit apartment complex at 500 Center St., which is operated by the Housing Authority, is treated for pests on a monthly basis, and Cruz said Arrow Exterminating was recently hired to respond to reports of bed bugs.

He added that the Housing Authority has invested about $50,000 to address safety issues during the past year throughout the four buildings they maintain across Long Beach, a portion of which is allocated for extermination.

Long Beach City Councilwoman Anissa Moore said she was told that a teacher in the school district noticed bed bug bites on two children a few weeks ago, but noted that the parents did not report the incident out of fear of being evicted. That issue is likely separate from the units recently sprayed, said Cruz, and raised concerns about unreported cases of bed bugs.

One resident, who said she lives at Channel Park but declined to give her name, said bed bugs have been an issue there for years and claimed that she has dealt with bed bugs in her apartment twice in the past 10 years.

She claims that she is aware of four unreported bed bug cases at the apartment complex, and added that most tenants stay quiet due to the condition of their homes, or if they owe rent. The resident said she knows of Channel Park tenants currently trying to rid their living quarters of bed bugs on their own, and claimed she has not received a notice from the Housing Authority encouraging people to report the issues.

“A lot of people here are behind on rent so a lot of them keep their mouths shut,” she said.

But Cruz emphasized that unpaid rent has no bearing on eviction, aside from cases of complete negligence, and encouraged residents to report such issues. He added that the Housing Authority would continue to treat tenants’ apartments for bed bugs if they are reported.

“If they owe rent, that’s their responsibility to take care of,” Cruz said. “It’s my responsibility to take care of maintaining the building, so if they don’t report it, I can’t do anything about it. They’re not going to get evicted if they report it, that’s not going to happen. We just need to get in there to take care of it.”

He added that the Housing Authority does its best to accommodate those behind on rent.

“We try to help them,” Cruz said. “If we see that there are some hardships, we try to work with them. This is public housing; this is not condos or anything like that. This is about trying to help people — low-income, hard-working people.”

Overall, Cruz said that the Housing Authority has taken care of six cases of bed bugs at the Channel Park Homes in the last six or seven months. A representative from Cornell University is scheduled to give a seminar on March 16 regarding measures residents can take to prevent bed bugs from invading their home, he added.

However, the unreported cases are still concerning to Moore, who said she spoke to Cruz about the issue.

“They’re moving forward so I don’t have a problem with that,” Moore said. “Obviously, if something else happens, then I would definitely be more vocal about it because it’s a serious situation.”