How secure the some 87 residents of the McIver Homes at 111 South Munn Ave., whose management has apparently replaced two paid guards with a closed circuit television system Dec. 1, may be either a question of substance or of perception.
That question has reached the ears of East Orange council members and police department at least by the former's committee meeting here at City Hall Dec. 5. The council, responding to 10 McIver residents and an 11th public speaker, is reviewing their options with their legal department.
"We're looking for a copy of the lease," said Fourth Ward Councilman William Holt to "Local Talk" after their meeting. "We want to see with our Department of Law what the lease says about security."
Holt and Third Ward Councilman Theodore "Ted" Green said they first learned about the matter when they were invited by McIver Homes Tenant Association President Joyce Blakely late Nov. 30. Blakely, who was elected to the association's helm about two weeks earlier, had called for the special meeting after she and some of the residents had learned of McIver's management and/or ownership's switch to CCTV.
"I came to the meeting because several residents had asked me to," said Green, who was the East Orange Housing Association Vice President in 2006. "There were 35 to 40 people there. They talked about the security changeover."
"Local Talk," as of 2 p.m. Dec. 7, has not received a comment from Fourth Ward Councilwoman Sharon Fields. Fields was at the Dec. 5 council meeting - as also were Council President Quilla Talmadge and Councilwoman Andrea McPhatter. Their four colleagues were ill or otherwise absent.
Blakely, who led her McIver residents to the Council Chamber public speakers lectern Dec. 5, said she and other tenants had received a notice from Edgewater Management Corporation about midday Nov. 30. The letter said that it will activate its CCTV system 12:01 a.m. Dec. 1. Its two paid overnight security guards were therefore laid off.
"The management told the security guards that they were laid off by ‘speaker phone,’ said Blakely. "We object to how fast this change in security came. No one had a chance to ask questions or object."
Blakely and the floor speakers said that they are left with two daytime human monitors. Resident Earlene Holt, in a Dec. 7 111 So. Munn curbside interview with News12 New Jersey, said that she is paid to monitor the mornings and a volunteer resident monitors the afternoons. The monitors observe the building's lobby, respond to tenant requests and escort visitors in the nine-story, 87-unit, apartment building. (E. Holt and the councilman are not related.)
Taking the two guards' place is a set of video cameras that a management staffer would monitor in a ground floor room. "Local Talk," when visiting McIver House around noon Dec. 7, noticed a camera mounted in a wall dome above a lobby receptionist's desk. The desk, where residents and nurses would log in, was unoccupied during the three minutes "Local Talk" was present.
"Local Talk" did see an East Orange Police Department officer visit the premises at that time. The officer, who pulled his marked squad car to the South Munn curb, walked into the lobby, stopped at the management office and continued into the building. He returned to his car, his foot patrol apparently done, about 10 minutes later.
"The police are doing a good job, stopping in, checking the lobby and stairwells," said E. Holt Dec. 7. "They show that they care for seniors. But the cameras can't replace a human being who can respond to a fallen resident."
The manager on duty referred questions to Edgewood's Rockville, Md. telephone number. An Edgewood spokeswoman, at 1 p.m., referred "Local Talk" back to the McIver management office.
Rockville, Md., according to city tax assessor rolls, is also the home of McIver Homes Association. MHA, although presenting "Units for Lease," and "Private Property" signs at 111 So. Munn Ave., accepts Section 8 affordable housing vouchers and Federal Mortgage and Urban Housing funds.
It is not known whether Edgewood used public funds to install its CCTV system or pay its night security guards.
The Rev. James McIver Homes was built primarily for senior citizens and disabled city residents in 1976. It and the community day care center next door replaced a pair of old Victorian era houses that were professional offices into the early 1970s.
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