Mirasol residents win temporary housing
"We need to be moved out of these houses, period," Guadalupe Lopez told the SAHA board. "And one of our ideas is to move into some of these other houses." The idea struck a chord with the commissioners, though whether it would pass muster with the agency's policies was initially unclear.  "I think it does sound very reasonable," Commissioner Rebecca Galvan said. "I don't know that I could tell you the particulars on how it would work."

Mirasol residents win temporary housing
04/03/2008
Josh Baugh
Express-News

"We need to be moved out of these houses, period," Guadalupe Lopez told the SAHA board. "And one of our ideas is to move into some of these other houses."

The idea struck a chord with the commissioners, though whether it would pass muster with the agency's policies was initially unclear.

"I think it does sound very reasonable," Commissioner Rebecca Galvan said. "I don't know that I could tell you the particulars on how it would work."

Some residents of the San Antonio Housing Authority's Mirasol Homes subdivision have won the right to relocate nearby while their houses are being repaired.

Major repairs are under way at the West Side development, but many residents don't want to stay in their homes while workers tear out air-conditioning ducts, replace windows, paint and do other work.

The residents and advocates left the SAHA meeting and headed to the San Antonio City Council, where they made the same request. Meanwhile, the SAHA commissioners took up the concept during a lengthy executive session, after which they directed the agency to comply with the residents' request.

"We are asking staff to look at providing temporary housing in Mirasol in homes that are for sale or ready to be occupied so that residents can be nearby," Chairman Ramiro Cavazos said.

Mirasol residents have long complained of shoddy construction and cracked foundations. More recently, they've claimed that moldy air-conditioning units have made them sick. SAHA is replacing the air-conditioning units in all 246 Mirasol houses, but the work isn't scheduled to be complete until August at the earliest.

More than 50 residences sit vacant in Mirasol Homes, not including the 16 SAHA has bought back.

"What we've been instructed to do is find several homes that are ready, or near ready," said Henry Alvarez, SAHA's president and CEO. "We'll furnish them and give (residents) access to those units."

Residents will be able to stay in the houses during the time it takes to repair their own homes and conduct the inspections.

"We're getting a pretty strong sense that folks don't want to be away from their support systems," Alvarez said. "They want to be close to their schools, their clinics" and other agencies.