A key state senator has announced that Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill (D) will tour the Clinton-Peabody public housing complex in St. Louis on Saturday.
State Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, D-St. Louis, has raised concerns about allegations of mice and roaches at the sprawling 358-unit complex, which is south of downtown. It’s at 14th and Chouteau.
State Sen. Jamilah Nasheed speaks at the Missouri Capitol on January 23, 2018 (file photo courtesy of Missouri Senate photographer Harrison Sweazea]
Nasheed has announced that McCaskill will meet Saturday at noon with senior management of McCormack Baron Management, Inc.
Senator Nasheed says she and State Rep. Bruce Franks Jr., D-St. Louis, will also tour the facility and will participate in the meeting.
The complex, which was built in 1942, has a new property manager.
Allegations of mice, roaches and backed up sewage have prompted Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley (R) to launch an investigation into the conditions at Clinton-Peabody.
Hawley told Missourinet last week that he wants details about complaints that have been made.
“How many residents have complained over the relevant timeframe and what has the public housing authority done in response to those complaints,” Hawley said in that interview. “Has there been any real action taken?”
Hawley has issued a civil subpoena to the St. Louis Housing Authority to determine whether conditions at the complex are livable.
Senator McCaskill wrote a March 19th letter to Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Dr. Ben Carson, asking HUD and him to implement a plan that offers “an effective and lasting solution to this complex’s infestation problem.”
She notes many of the residents at Clinton-Peabody are children and seniors.
Missourinet spoke Thursday afternoon to St. Louis Housing Authority Executive Director Cheryl Lovell, who reiterates that they’ve spent more than $250,000 on improvements at the complex since November.
Lovell says the St. Louis Health Department conducted an inspection in late March. She tells Missourinet there’s been a 75 percent reduction in units with mice, since December.
Lovell says an exterminator is at the complex weekly, adding that they’re working closely with the health department.
