Shawnee Blaylock is afraid to let her young children use the bathroom in her Vallejo apartment. The 27-year-old mother of three said that since construction workers accidentally left the water running in the unit above hers about two weeks ago, she keeps that bathroom door closed and avoids going near it.

The incident exacerbated a long-standing problem the apartment's management has yet to adequately address, Blaylock said.

The Sonoma apartments' new management denied any mold problem and directed inquiries to Seattle-based Pinnacle American Management Services, which referred questions back to the on-site manager or another employee said to be unavailable for comment.

"It was dripping black and brown, and it started scaring me," Blaylock said. "I got buckets and stuff to sop it up, but it was a weekend and there was no one to talk to until Monday."

She said she alerted the building's management that Monday, but no one came until the next day.

Several attempts to get something done about the problem failed, Blaylock said, so she called the Solano County Health Department, which sent a representative out Thursday. The department's Marcy MacKenzie wrote up several health and safety violations for the problem, and gave management until April 10 to address them.

MacKenzie was not available for comment Friday, but her supervisor, Ricardo Serrano, said he is aware there's an issue in the complex. He's not familiar with the details of Blaylock's case or whether the building has generated other complaints, Serrano said.

But Blaylock, who said she's lived in the unit for about five years, said her most recent complaint is just one in a series she's made about mold problems for at least a year.
 
Also Thursday, hours after complex management was given the health violation notice,
Blaylock said a notice was tacked to her door suggesting her Section 8 certification was being reviewed. Blaylock said she completed the annual re-certification process in January.

"I'm a little afraid they're going to put me out tomorrow," she said.

Blaylock said she's tried to get a waiver of the required one-month notice to move out, but she was denied.
The building's investment manager, Stephanie Bonney, said she doesn't believe there is a mold problem, but nevertheless Blaylock has been offered a different unit, which she has refused. Bonney also said the entire complex is undergoing extensive renovations.

None of that matters much to Blaylock at this point, she said.

"I want to move as soon as possible, and I'm just waiting for my mom to give me the $1,000 I need to move into a new place, which she said she'd have soon," Blaylock said
 
http://www.timesheraldonline.com/ci_5576069
 
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