Blackouts, black mold and bedbugs make tempers hot

Bed-bugged folks speak up in Saugus


By Chris Stevens/The Daily Item

SAUGUS - Residents in Laurel Gardens and Laurel Tower who have kept quiet despite some recent unsettling issues were given the chance to speak their minds Friday without chance of retribution.

Residents are upset by what they perceive as a lack of concern from the Housing Authority, which has jurisdiction over the housing units, over issues that range from blackouts to black mold and most notably, bedbugs.

Tenant Maura Casey said Housing Authority Director Stephen Whitehurst nor anyone from “upper management” was invited to the meeting on purpose.

“If we had Steven Whitehurst here no one would speak,” she said. “They’re afraid if they open their mouths they will get evicted. We needed a meeting where people could speak their minds.”

John Guarino had no problem speaking his mind when it came to the issue of bedbugs. He argued that his apartment has been ruined because of them and no one from the Housing Authority stepped up to help.

Tenants have been struggling with a bedbug infestation they claim is going unchecked. A memo was issued Thursday from management stating the problem was being addressed, but Joyce Griffin scoffed at the statement. Griffin said, according to her research, affected apartments need to fumigated three times at two-week intervals, but that is not happening. Others said they would like to see restitution for residents that have lost mattresses, clothes and other furniture to bedbugs.
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