Cold water plagues Mayor Wright residents

Unless the government pays up soon, Mayor Wright residents may file a lawsuit to force the issue, said Victor Geminiani of Lawyers for Equal Justice.

“It’s immoral in this country to maintain facilities that year after year don’t have hot water,” he said. “We’re not supposed to treat people this way.” Federal housing authorities require safe, decent and sanitary housing for families, and that includes providing hot water, said Donna White, spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

HUD officials this week urged the Hawaiʻi Public Housing Authority to make the Mayor Wright hot water issue a priority, White said.

“Hot water is a safety issue in terms of being able to launder clothes, shower and clean,” White said.

HUD provides HPHA with $12 million annually for capital improvement projects statewide, but the state has a public housing repair backlog exceeding $350 million and growing, Birck said.

Mayor Wright’s hot water systems have been breaking down since 2002, when aging rooftop solar panels and backup systems began to fail. Residents sometimes boil water to compensate, but they say that raises electricity bills, takes time and isn’t safe.

Residents of the 50-year-old complex pay no more than 30 percent of their income for rent in public housing, which has a waiting list of about 7,000 people across the state.