Recent public complaints to the LaGrange City Council and LaGrange Housing Authority have exposed apparent long-standing problems that have been allowed to fester in the Tall Pines Apartments on Turner Street, near the intersection of Mooty Bridge Road and North Greenwood Street. The complex, which has recently seen a local management change, has become a topic of conversation amongst city officials, who may soon be forced to wrestle with the appropriate next steps for a housing complex that is not meeting the needs of its’ residents.

Zsa Zsa Heard, the Chief Executive Officer of the LaGrange Housing Authority, said she felt the conditions in the apartment complex were unlivable in her opinion, after touring Tall Pines recently. LaGrange community development director Alton West concurred with that belief, though he also maintained the apartment complex’s residents could do more to make their living conditions more tolerable.

Dionne Davis represents the new local face of the complex, stepping into the manager role approximately one month ago. Davis deserves time to remedy the problems created by her predecessors and the space to do the job ahead of her, but the hard truth is that the job she has in front of her is a lofty one.

Some HVAC units have been out for more than a year, mold permeates a number of apartments, air conditioning units have not been repaired and, in one case, a woman has been unable to use her bathtub to bathe her children for more than one year.

It is a shame the conditions have been allowed to devolve into their current state. While all are charged with keeping their living spaces clean and sanitary, the responsibility in this case seems to fall at the feet of inept and woefully negligent management. We hope the conditions at Tall Pines improve and improve rapidly, as the residents there deserve far better than they have been shown.