10 Aug 15th-Aug 21st, 2024 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | bar the management company from renting to Arizona consumers in the future — essentially putting them out of business in the state. The suit also seeks restitution and civil penalties for the harm caused to residents, as uninhabitable conditions created by the management company have landed at least one resident in the hospital. On Aug. 5, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge granted a temporary restraining order against Buenas Communities. In his ruling, Judge Frank Moskowitz ordered Buenas to cooling systems that are “constantly functioning” to all tenants or to secure them “alternative accommodations” until the cooling system is fixed. Moskowitz also ordered the land- lord to “immediately cease all advertising and renting of apartments” at the complex. Moskowitz gave Buenas Communities until 1:30 p.m. on Aug. 9 — after New Times’ print deadline — to comply with his order. He has not yet ruled on Mayes’ request for a permanent injunction against the landlord. Both sides are due in court on Aug. 9. ‘Vulnerable populations’ Mayes’ lawsuit accuses Buenas Communities of egregiously taking advantage of some of the city’s least fortunate residents. According to the lawsuit, Buenas on 32nd is one of a handful of apartment complexes in Maricopa County that accept forms of state housing assistance, such as Section 8 housing vouchers. That means many residents are “members of particu- larly vulnerable populations,” such as older people, individuals with physical and mental disabilities and people on low or fixed incomes, including families with chil- dren or pets. All of them have been without working air conditioning for two months during some of the hottest months in city history. Phoenix’s heat is expected to break records this year. According to the National Weather Service, the Valley’s average temperature will be nearly 100 degrees this summer, breaking last year’s record of 97 degrees. Without working air conditioning, resi- dents have relied on temporary window units, avoided cooking their own food and spent as little time in their homes as possible to survive. The chillers, which residents received in late July, had air “coming out a little cold but not as cold” as it would with a normal air conditioner, resident Raquel Límon told New Times on July 26. Mayes’ lawsuit cites another resident who was given two window units to cool her home, only to find out that using both would cause a power outage in her apartment. The lawsuit claimed that resident’s apartment would still reach 89 degrees — far beyond the requirements in Phoenix City Code, which mandates that landlords ensure all habitable rooms remain at 82 degrees or cooler. The suit said another resident complained to the Attorney General’s Office that maintenance staff set her temporary wall unit to cool the apart- ment only to 87 degrees. And while this summer has been partic- ularly brutal, residents say air-conditioning issues aren’t new at Buenas. Sally Rivera, a five-year resident of the complex who wound up in the hospital this summer with dehydration, told New Times that broken air conditioning is a yearly issue. “It’s been happening every year,” Rivera said, “but this is the longest we’ve been without air.” A litany of problems Broken air conditioning may be the most pressing of the problems at Buenas, but it’s hardly the only one. Buenas has been cited for 105 violations of city code since 2016, only 18 of which had to do with the heating, cooling and ventilation of apartments. Three of those cases — one from 2023 and two from this year — are still open. Though Mayes’ complaint referenced 123 violations in that span, that total is incorrect, according to city of Phoenix data. The 87 code violations not related to heating, cooling and ventilation concern a host of other issues, which Mayes’ complaint summed up in a long, damning paragraph that labeled the complex as “uninhabitable”: “Most units have windows barely boarded up with a thin piece of plywood backed by duct tape. Water leaks, broken glass, unsecure mailboxes, prior fire damage, loose stairs and wobbly railings are prevalent throughout the Complex. Walkways, connecting a portion of the Complex’s northern three-story dilapi- dated buildings, dip downward, on the verge of collapse. Mattresses, allegedly thrown out because of rampant bed bug infestations, are strewn about the Complex and litter the trash areas. Putrid green, still water fills the unusable swimming pool. The courts and playgrounds are in dire need of repair.” The lawsuit also claimed that Buenas Communities threatened to evict residents who complained to media outlets. According to the lawsuit, after two resi- dents complained to local media about the lack of air conditioning, a manager of the complex threatened to evict them. Soon after, those residents were informed via email that their lease renewal had been canceled, with no reason given as to why. The lease was reinstated only after the Attorney General’s Office contacted complex management. “These threats are exceptionally serious to residents who utilize forms for state assistance,” the lawsuit stated. “As they remain fearful of being left without alter- native housing.” Rivera, who spoke to local media outlets after her hospitalization and helped bring the matter to Mayes’ attention, witnessed that intimidation firsthand. She tried to recruit other residents to speak out about conditions at the complex, but many feared they’d lose their housing by doing so. “If I didn’t talk,” Rivera told New Times, “nobody would have talked.” Nazi Hunter Task Force Butler teaches Phoenix veterans to fight extremism. BY TJ L’HEUREUX K ristofer Goldsmith calls himself a “Nazi hunter.” It’s a job that keeps him busy in America. So busy, in fact, that the former U.S. Army sergeant started a nonprofit to further his efforts. Task Force Butler infiltrates and researches fascist and white supremacist groups in the United States. Earlier this month, that mission brought Goldsmith to the Valley. From July 12-13, Goldsmith led work- shops for roughly 30 local veterans at the Marriott Courtyard Phoenix Downtown. He also screened a film about how extremist organizations recruit disillusioned veterans and their role in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. A few Valley politicians joined the group to watch. Goldsmith’s hobby-turned-mission to make life more uncomfortable for fascists began in 2020, when an Army friend told him he’d just joined the neo- Nazi group Patriot Front and wanted Goldsmith’s help to “take them down.” Goldsmith says that since then, he’s infiltrated a number of fascist organiza- tions without great difficulty. The main qualification for member- ship is depressingly simple. “They do skin checks,” Goldsmith told Phoenix New Times at the event. “So, if you’re white, you’re going to pass.” To really pass, though, requires doing a lot of depressing homework. “You have to immerse yourself in the grossest parts of the internet to understand how to talk” like avowed white supremacists, he said. “It’s something that anyone can do,” he added. “It just sucks because you’re basically swimming in intellectual sewage in order to talk to these people.” Goldsmith started Task Force Butler in 2022 to “help veterans get involved in fighting hate groups” like he does. Task Force Butler targets groups that fit under a number of labels — fascist, white supremacist, neo-Nazi, violent extremist — though there is plenty of overlap between them. Together, the groups form a front of “domestic extremism,” which Goldsmith defines as the belief that certain people must be excluded from society because of who they are. The organization is named after U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Smedley Butler, the decorated military leader who warned Congress in 1933 of a No Buenas from p 9 The heat in her apartment sent Sally Rivera to the hospital with dehydration. Afterward, she contacted news outlets and the Arizona Attorney General’s Office about the lack of air conditioning at Buenas on 32nd. The landlord installed window air conditioners in some apartments, though the complex has lacked working air conditioning for months. (Photos by Itzia Crespo and Morgan Fischer) >> p 12
