A group of displaced Casanova Plaza residents show up to retrieve their belongings, only to be turned away.

Aric Sleeper here, reporting on an informal meeting that took place today, May 15, outside of the Casanova Plaza apartment complex in Monterey. The building was partially destroyed by a three-alarm fire in March, killing one resident, injuring several others and displacing all of them. 

While the loss of life and injuries are devastating, the emotional trauma endured by the residents is ongoing, as was on display Friday afternoon at the gate of the complex.

There a small group of residents gathered—some because they thought they would be able to enter their apartments and retrieve their possessions beginning on May 15, as the Housing Authority of Monterey County had told them at the end of April—and others, who had received the notice that the possession retrieval was canceled the day before, on May 14, waiting to find out why they have to wait even longer to go into their old apartments and gather their valuables.

I arrived slightly after HACM Development Director Nora Ruvalcaba began taking questions from the displaced residents. One, who asked to remain anonymous, told me that they did not receive the May 14 notice that the event was canceled. They said that they had booked a moving truck for the day and lost around $200 after having to cancel the truck at the last minute.

Addressing the group, Ruvalcaba said the notices, dated Thursday, May 14, were hand-delivered to residents on Wednesday, May 13 and that all residents were emailed and called as well, despite those present arguing otherwise. In the May 14 notice, the Housing Authority stated that the possession retrieval date was pushed to the “near future” as refrigerators and freezers had to be removed from the units alongside further remediation work.

At the informal meeting, Ruvalcaba told those in attendance that attorneys were retained by some residents with renters insurance, and that the attorneys asked the Housing Authority to “stop all of the work” until the building could be further inspected. 

She said that information was included in a press release given to KSBW. However, the Weekly did not receive the press release in question. In fact, when I asked the Housing Authority’s public relations media contact about a potential lawsuit, they stated they had no information about it. 

Although I attempted to speak with Housing Authority Executive Director Zuleika Boykin about the litigation mentioned by Ruvalcaba, she did not respond by press time.

After listening to the frustrated former residents on Friday and speaking with several others in the weeks following the fire, I now understand why some, like Cameron Burnett, feel that the response to the disaster has been “absolute chaos.”