Jersey City Councilman Daniel Rivera apologized to the Villa Borinquen Tenants Association for his lack of support and involvement, while also offering to setup a meeting between all vested parties.
By Michael Shurin/Hudson County View
In response to a Hudson County View story about a recent Villa Borinquen Tenants Association (VBTA) meeting, Jersey City Councilman Daniel Rivera offered the group an apology for his lack of support and involvement.
Rivera, a resident of the Villa Borinquen complex, in an email to VBTA wrote “please accept my sincerest apologies for not attending any of your meetings in reference to questions and concerns about our complex.”
Rivera also added “I’ve been a lifelong resident of Villa and still live here as well as my parents. I look forward to working with both your association as well as PACO [Puertorriqueños Asociados for Community Organization, Inc.] and PRLHC [Puerto Rican Lutheran Housing Corp] to address concerns of both the tenants and the administration.”
Evette Gaetan and Kristen Gonzalez, Chairs of the VB I & II Tenants Association, acknowledged Rivera’s apology via email, but didn’t hold back their feelings about Rivera’s lack of involvement saying it took “a public video for you to realize the seriousness of the many issues tenants are facing with PRLHC and Ventura management.”
The group added “We do look forward to meeting with you and the proper parties involved with this issue.”
A meeting between all the groups has not been setup yet, but a disagreement over location may already be brewing. Rivera told Hudson County View he would like to host a meeting in the caucus room at city hall, while VBTA would like to have it hosted in the community room at Villa Borinquen.
The email from VBTA did end with hope for a resolution to the ongoing tenant-landlord dispute noting “Mr. Rivera since you have a good relationship with PACO and the landlord PRLHC, we the tenants of Villa Borinquen look forward to you assisting… we can all work together for the better of our community.”