By Mary O’KEEFE

As reported last week in the CVW, many of the residents of the Honolulu Manor Senior Apartments had been stuck in their homes for several days due to both elevators in their complex not working.

After weeks of attempting to reach the owner of the apartment complex by residents, media and the City of Glendale, Elias Shokrian of CaliTex LLC and Montrose LP will be arraigned in Glendale Superior Court today on criminal charges.

Honolulu Manor Senior Apartment residents are 65 years old and older. Many of the residents walk with the help of walkers and canes or are in wheelchairs. They have been coping with having only one working elevator since October 2018, according to one resident. Then around May 23 the second elevator broke leaving residents unable to leave their apartment floor.

At first several of the residents were afraid to speak to the media for fear of retaliation, either through rent hikes or eviction. Some had spoken with the manager, Marie, and others had contacted the City of Glendale. But the frustration level grew.  Several of the residents had enough, especially 92-year-old George Heussenstamm.  They were ready to speak out to everyone and anyone to get help.

Heussenstamm and other residents were not only concerned for themselves but for other residents. The Honolulu Manor is more than just a group of apartments; it is a family that looks out for each other.

On day six of having no elevator, a repairman came to the complex.  Heussenstamm said the apartment manager told him that the repairman said both elevators needed new motors. Heussenstamm took a chance and attempted to contact the owner of the complex, Elias Shokrian. He was not able to get through but did speak to someone at his office on the phone.

“I told him we need to have this fixed right away,” Heussenstamm said. “He said, ‘Oh yes we have got to get them fixed. It’s so frustrating – we have been waiting on parts.’” One of the elevators had been inoperable for eight months and on Jan. 7, 2019 Cal/OSHA tagged one of the elevators for “non-compliance.”

Heussenstamm did not believe Shokrian’s representative and let that be known.

“He said, ‘I don’t like your attitude. What’s your name?’” Heussentamm said.

His concern grew that he was going to be targeted by the company but he knew something had to be done.

Kristine Lazar of CBS’ “Two on Your Side” was contacted and, along with CVW, met with a group of residents on Thursday, May 30. The residents shared their fears, frustrations and anger at being so isolated due to the broken elevators.

“I canceled three doctors’ appointments,” said one resident.

“I have a walker. I very seldom use my cane and walking up 32 steps is difficult,” said another.

Heussenstamm uses a cane and said he can get around without it, but those steps are taking their toll.

“I have to take one step at a time,” he said. “This is horrible. I hate it. It’s dangerous.”

“I feel like a prisoner, like I am in jail,” said Elma Schwartz, who is in a wheelchair.

Several of the residents at last Thursday’s meeting said it was difficult for those who were more mobile especially those who had their personal cars who parked in the lot. Without use of an elevator they had to park their vehicles then walk around the outside of the building to get to the steps that lead to their apartments.

During the period when the elevators were out, residents helped each other by offering to bring water and food to others. Trader Joe’s employees helped carry bags upstairs for some residents, and firefighters responded by helping to carry residents up and down the stairs. 

After several promised repair times beginning on the morning of May 30, one of the elevators was finally repaired on Saturday, June 1 at about 6:30 p.m. but then broke again the next day, Sunday, at about 2 p.m. This time there was a woman trapped in the elevator. Glendale Fire Dept. responded.

“I was trying to get [help to] the woman [stuck in the elevator],” said Tina Dauphin. “I just wish they would fix this elevator for these people.”

Dauphin is the daughter of a tenant who recently died. She was there to move her mother’s belongings out of the apartment. Dauphin was there yesterday, Wednesday, and said the elevator was “moving weirdly.”

Heussenstamm added that the one elevator that was repaired twice within 24 hours is very “shaky.”

“I feel like I’m taking a risk each time I step into it,” he said. He added others who he has spoken with feel the same and some, who are more mobile, are even opting to take the stairs.

“When our inspector went out again he rode the elevator form the lower level to the upper,” said City of Glendale spokesman Dan Bell. “It was jerky and he did not sign off on it [as of Wednesday afternoon].”

Heussenstamm has lived at the apartment complex for six years. He said about three years ago one of the elevators went out and he wrote to the City of Glendale Neighborhood Services.

“A young man called me and he was very upset. He came over to [the complex] and spoke to someone and was able to get the elevator to work again,” he said.

But then, when the elevator went out again and residents were relying on only one, Heussentamm contacted the City again.

According to Bell, the City has been working with the building owner for a long time in an attempt to get the longtime broken elevator up and running. They were working in good faith that the owner would comply. Then the second elevator broke.

When Councilwoman Paula Devine was told about the seniors’ plight she contacted the city attorney and has been following the progress of the repairs of not just one elevator but both.

“The [City] got on it very fast with the citation and taking him to litigation,” she said. She added spokesman Dan Bell and City Manager Yasmin Beers also responded quickly to the issue.

“It is unconscionable what this landlord is and was doing to the most vulnerable [population]: our seniors,” Devine said.

Attorney Raymond Zakari agrees. He lives in the area and knows people at the complex who reached out to him. He was also at last Thursday’s resident meeting. He has filed a lawsuit against the landlord on behalf of several of the residents. He is offering to help others who may want to join in the lawsuit.

Zakari said Shokrian is like the self-centered stereotypical landlord who is portrayed in movies.

“He gives landlords a bad name,” he said. “This conduct amounts to abuse.”

Devine has visited the apartment complex and is offering residents information on their rights as residents. Normally what happens in a case like this is the City would inspect the situation and give the company a warning to make the repairs. The company would be given three citations and, if they are still not in compliance, the city attorney would get involved.

When the City of Glendale learned the second elevator had stopped working, it immediately cited Shokrian and Montrose LP then referred the case to the city attorney who filed a criminal complaint against the owner and company.

Shokrian is scheduled to be arraigned this morning (Thursday, June 6).

  Mary Okeefe