To the editor:
Re: "Teenage housing nightmare part of growing Atira empire in Downtown Eastside," Aug. 23.
You would think that with lots of government money coming in, Atira Property Management would provide good service. However, a staff member in my rooming house, the Abbott Mansion, recently had to use his own money to buy toilet paper for the bathrooms because none was forthcoming from Atira despite its promise to deliver some. Perhaps they were saving up their pennies to fix the bath facilities on my floor, one of which has been closed for repair for some time. The other is leaking water from a mouldy hole in the ceiling.
When asked about these problems, the building manager tells me to complain to the Atira office, where the misdirection continues.
In my dealings with them in the recent past, appointments with managers were frequently cancelled and promises that someone would come and see me at home were never fulfilled. And never try to speak to anyone on a Friday. The only person available on that day is a clerk who answers the telephone.
Apparently the Atira managers take a three-day weekend every week courtesy of the taxpayer. No wonder it takes them so long to get anything done. For a supposedly progressive social organization, Atira acts in a manner suspiciously similar to the private sector.
Terry Bostock, Vancouver
