Code-enforcement officers respond to calls about squalid living conditions in a west Fullerton complex.
By ERIC CARPENTER
The Orange County Register
FULLERTON – Emma Diaz lifted the kitchen drawer to show the cabinet's rotted wood when a cockroach ran from underneath, scurried across the counter and disappeared into the stove.
Inside her bathroom, a coat of paint and some Spackle nearly hid a patch of mold that had formed on the wall.
Diaz just shook her head.
"I've been here a year and I've been asking for repairs since we first walked in," said Diaz, who lives in the two-bedroom apartment with her husband and three children.
"We shouldn't have to live like this."
Diaz's apartment at the Parkin Gardens complex was one of 46 units inspected Monday as part of a rare general inspection by Fullerton code-enforcement officers.
Residents and a coalition of community groups asked for the inspection to spotlight squalid living conditions in part of west Fullerton, an area of dense, aging housing that they say is often neglected.
Code enforcement officers documented 247 violations, which they will ask owner Eric Parkin to repair or face the possibility of fines.
Parkin could not be reached for comment. The apartment manager, Susana Garcia, said repairs are being made.
"Sometimes people have problems, but they aren't home when repairs need to be made," she said.
Violations included broken heaters, smoke detectors and light fixtures, said code-enforcement officer Tom Fulton.
"Today, we are focused on this one complex, but we hope that residents and the city will take a step back and look at the big picture," said Joseph McKellar, a community organizer with the Orange County Congregation Community Organization.
The organization's goal is to highlight areas that need improvements and to identify and educate leaders in those communities to work toward positive change.
OCCCO is among several organizations that has put an increased emphasis in recent months on the needs of west Fullerton - an area that is more than half Hispanic and where average family incomes are far less compared to residents in the east.
Community organizers say that while they've seen similar code-enforcement crackdowns in Santa Ana and Anaheim, they've seen little attention on Fullerton.
"People don't think of Fullerton as having places where residents live in crowded, run-down conditions and may need help," McKellar said. "The more we've asked, the more we are seeing the need."
A senior-level communications class at Cal State Fullerton spent nine months this year on a project highlighting the needs of west Fullerton.
Now OCCCO is working with Fair Housing of Orange County, the Kennedy Commission for Affordable Housing and St. Jude Medical Center, which formed a collaborative with a $500,000 state grant to study the link between crowded living conditions and asthma.
Fulton said the violations his team saw Monday will be documented and a letter sent to the property owner requesting fixes within 60 days.
Fulton said that as rents go up, more people are moving into smaller spaces and many landlords aren't keeping up with repairs.
"Yes, we found stuff that needs to be repaired, but I don't think these are problems beyond what you'd see in many cities," he said. "It's part of a bigger problem."
McKellar agrees that it's one issue among many. Still, the problems should be fixed.
"People in west Fullerton have been quiet for a long time and we hope to show that if they speak out, they can see changes for the better," McKellar said.
"The best thing we can do is show people that they have power."
CONTACT US: (714) 704-3769 or ecarpenter@ocregister.com
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