A resident of the Olympic Villages subsidized housing believes speaking out against a private utilitys controversial billing may have caused her a lack of protection from harassment and threats she endured from a neighbour.
Pam Burge has a scheduled Monday hearing at the Residential Tenancy Branch against City of Vancouver and COHO Property Management, which manages 80 Walter Hardwick Ave. Burge claims city hall and COHO failed to uphold her right under the Residential Tenancy Act to the privacy and safety of her one-bedroom suite. Shes seeking a $15,000 settlement.
Burge was among the residents surprised last year to receive monthly bills for heat and hot water from Enerpro Energy Systems. Burge, who was only expecting a monthly B.C. Hydro bill, said she cannot afford to pay and has been threatened with eviction.
We all thought wed come to Valhalla, because they are nice apartments inside, Burge told the Courier. About five weeks after I moved here, I got these bills. I thought it was some kind of Nigerian scam or something, I had no idea who Enerpro was. I got a bill from them for $85.
Burge and several other residents appeared at a Pivot Legal Society news conference last December to dispute the legality of the billing. Around the same time, Burge said a male neighbour began trespassing and threatening and harassing her.
The guy was constantly looking into my apartment, staring through my windows, said Burge, 67. I was afraid to go to the elevator to the garbage room, the laundry room. City hall and COHO, she alleged, sat back and allowed it.
Burge said the man mocked her for being a transsexual and complained about her use of marijuana. Burge said she lives in a smoking suite and has a doctors approval to use marijuana to treat arthritis and fibromyalgia.
City hall and COHO did not act on her lawyers requests to move or evict the man. Conflict escalated last spring. Burge hosted a friend, who is a retired police officer, and his wife for dinner on March 25 when the man pinned a neighbour against the fifth-floor balcony railing.
The ex-police officer intervened, but was attacked by the aggressor. Police attended, but no charges were laid. Burge was shocked to receive a warning notice from COHO.
The man was finally moved in September to an apartment elsewhere in the Village, but Burge is not satisfied. Her filing with the Residential Tenancy Branch includes information about the mans history of assault convictions and statements from neighbours who also claim to be victims. Burge is seeking $4,500 in damages and a refund of her $11,500 rental payments.
Burge said she met with city manager Penny Ballem in mid-August and housing director Brenda Prosken on Oct. 4. Ballem and Prosken both declined comment.
COHO executive director Thom Armstrong said in an email the society is firmly committed to a safe, secure, sustainable community in the Village at Southeast False Creek but would not comment on the complaint.
City council agreed Nov. 5, 2010 to contract COHO to handle social housing at two buildings at the rebranded Village on False Creek. Receiver Ernst & Young took over the $1.1 billion complex on Nov. 18, 2010. In 2011, the city paid COHO $133,396.
2010goldrush@gmail.com
Twitter: @bobmackin
