BUFFALO, NY — In the middle of January, no one should have to go without heat. But, one resident in Buffalo public housing has gone without heat and hot water for two weeks.
Bobbie Spencer has had two knee replacements, and for her, it's tough to get around.
Spencer lives in the Frederick Douglass townhomes on Buffalo's eastside, and says she hasn't had hot water for two weeks.
"You trying to boil enough water to do personal hygiene that's very difficult," she said.
A spokesperson for the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority says her hot water heater was unrepairable. Not only that, the heat went out. The BMHA says the agency contracts with Shinda Management Corporation to take care of the townhomes.
And, Spencer says someone from Shinda did bring her several space heaters for her apartment. But, for days there's been no hot water and no long-term fix to her heat.
"And I said, oh this is enough I said I can't continue to do this," Spencer said.
Spencer contacted 2 On Your Side and we started investigating.
We went to Shinda Management and an official there refused to go on camera. She would only say they were working to find Spencer another place to stay.
REPORTER: If there was the option of relocating temporarily would you do that?
"If I have to I have to," she said.
Here's what we saw Friday, a crew in the process of putting in a new hot water tank for Spencer. But what about her furnace?
A BMHA spokesperson says new heating systems for the townhomes have been in the budget, but why haven't they been installed?
The BMHA hasn't responded to that question.
Common Council president Darius Pridgen says he's filing a resolution to begin an investigation into Shinda Management.
"I want to see the contract and I'm going to make the contract public because it ought to be part of the public record," Pridgen said.
REPORTER: We've heard from the BMHA, a spokesperson that Shinda really hasn't been responsive to them, why do you think Shinda would be responsive to the council?
"To the council, because the council has subpoena powers," Pridgen said.
This is just another issue on the list of problems the BMHA faces and 2 On Your Side has reported on for years — from bed bugs, to crumbling apartment buildings, now this.
Pridgen says that call for an investigation will be on the Common Council's agenda next week. Also, as all this plays out, the BMHA approved Thursday a trip for its commissioners to go to Las Vegas in March for training.