San Gabriel Valley Tribune, California, April 4, 2003
Residents evacuated due to toxic mold Building owner may face prosecution

By Marshall Allen and Gary Scott, Staff Writers

PASADENA -- City officials ordered 111 people 49 of them children to be evacuated from the Cinema 21 apartment building this week, after learning the building was contaminated with toxic mold.

As they were moving out of their studio and one-bedroom apartments, children played in the dilapidated halls while their parents scrambled to gather possessions and motel vouchers for what city officials said could be weeks away from the building.

Several third- floor apartments at the 38-unit Cinema 21, located in the 800 block of E. Washington Boulevard, were evacuated in February, after rain poured through the building's rotten ceiling and dripped through its hallways. Some apartment doors still bear the sticker: DO NOT ENTER, UNSAFE TO OCCUPY. After the rains city officials ordered the building's owner, Norman Furman of San Diego, to repair the roof. Those repairs are still being made.

A preliminary report on the building's health conditions was done in part because of the wetness, said the city's Chief Prosecutor, Connie Orozco, a member of the City Resources Against Slum Housing team. Two molds Aspergillus and Stachybotrys are present in the building, according to the report, Orozco said.

Exposure to the molds can cause various ailments, including allergies, infections and respiratory problems, according to health experts.

Though the level of contamination is unknown, the report recommended the building be evacuated immediately, Orozco said. A final report is expected Monday, and the CRASH team then will decide when residents can return to the building, Orozco said.

Five-day motel vouchers were provided to the residents by the Ecumenical Council of Pasadena Area Churches. The group's executive director Frank Clark said he's "never seen a building that bad in the city of Pasadena.'

Despite the fact that the paint is peeling, the carpets are filthy, the light fixtures are falling and the building smells, the residents have made it home, Clark said.

"When you go into the individual homes, you find articles of their faith, clean dishes and the beds are made,' he said.

City Councilman Victor Gordo, who represents the area, said the evacuation, which started Wednesday and concluded Friday, should send a "strong message to this and any other landlord' who lets a building fall into a similar state of disrepair.

"They either better get on top of the situation and do the right thing by improving living conditions or turn the building over to someone who will,' Gordo said. "If they are not willing to do that then the city will be forced to take the action it took this week. Either do it, or get out of the business.'

City officials should have evacuated the building long before the rains came, said resident Ladonna Woodley.

"I've been to the city several times and they never did anything,' Woodley said. "Now, they don't have a choice.'

The situation is being investigated and Furman, who's owned the building for about 20 years, may be prosecuted because of the conditions, Orozco said.

"This really is the landlord's responsibility, but we're stepping in to make sure (the residents) are well taken care of,' Orozco said.

Furman did not return phone calls.

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