Spruces Claim To Be Spited By Management
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"They're taking it out on the residents because we had the audacity to fight them and we won," Tenants Association President Cynthia Clermont-Rebello said Friday while she stood with about a dozen tenants holding signs in protest on the sidewalk of Route 2. "The people here are so frustrated with this retaliation and we're tired of Morgan Management bullying our people."
Last year the park owners, Morgan Management LLC, attempted to hike the rent by about $151 – from $258 to $409 – and residents battled the increase through nine months of hearings with the Rent Control Board. In February, the board rejected the higher rent.
Since then Rebello and other tenants claim services have been taken away in retaliation for the denial. It began with the firing of two maintenance men, then the company stopped picking up bags of leaves and tree clippings – forcing residents of the retirement community to carry their own bags to a field behind the park – then a room the tenants association used was transformed into storage, and finally the pool has not been opened, she said.
"Our biggest gripe is that we don't get what we pay for," Rebello said.
David Rebello, vice president of the tenants association, said the pool has a tear in the lining and the residents were told by the park managers, Kimberly and Richard Purcelli, that the pool would not be fixed until the roads were. The roads were initially ordered to be fixed by the town Board of Health but that decision was later reversed.
"We always had the pool for these people and that goes with the contract. Now they're trying to take it away from us," David Rebello said. "This pool has never, ever been closed."
David Rebello also said that the management is not putting much effort into repairing the roads.
"The streets are torn apart and they still didn't get up to fix it. They're waiting until the last minute to do anything. They don't want to spend anything," David Rebello said.
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"This is a group of residents that needed to vent their frustrations," Cynthia Clermont-Rebello said.
From a car window as she drove out of the park, a resident of Wheel Estates in North Adams expressed her support and claimed the North Adams residents are fighting the same battle.
The pool at Wheel Estates, also owned by Morgan Management, has also not been opened.
The park managers were unavailable for comment on Friday.
