Budzinski intervenes in local housing dispute on behalf of low-income
residents
[November 26, 2025]
By Maggie Dougherty
SPRINGFIELD — U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski is demanding to know why a
building management company accused of failing to provide safe and clean
living conditions in one of its Springfield-based apartment buildings
has not taken action.
Budzinski, a Democrat who represents Illinois’ 13th congressional
district, sent a letter Monday to Pacific Management Inc., seeking
answers about Sangamon Towers, 424 N. Fourth St., which residents and
workers say is plagued by bedbugs, mold, human waste in public places
and insufficient security protocols.
The privately owned building receives funding from the U.S. Department
of Housing and Urban Development to provide affordable housing for
low-income, elderly and disabled residents.
“We don’t operate like that and those are things I don’t expect to
hear,” Pacific Management President and CEO Jeffrey Richards told
Capitol News Illinois.
Budzinski said the building was flagged to her office by the local
chapter of the Service Employees International Union, which has members
who work or live there SEIU Healthcare is a union representing home care
and nursing home workers in the Midwest.
“This goes well beyond a simple light bulb that needs to be changed,”
Budzinski told Capitol News Illinois in an interview. “This is about
uninhabitable living conditions, and these are residents that are paying
to live there, and they very well deserve to have safe, healthy living
conditions.”
In late August, after months of conversations with residents, Budzinski
approached HUD with the concerns, requesting information about the
frequency of inspections and compliance with HUD standards.
HUD responded in a letter on Sept. 12, sharing that they had only
received one formal complaint about the Sangamon Towers property, and
that it had received a high score on its last inspection: 94 out of 100.
Publicly available HUD data confirms that score.
Yet, past reporting has documented HUD’s inspection process as failing
to flag dangerous living conditions in federally subsidized housing. HUD
has since shifted to a new set of standards for inspecting publicly
subsidized housing, but full implementation of requirements to meet
those standards has faced delays.
Although Sangamon Towers received a satisfactory score on the
inspection, HUD’s September letter to Budzinski notes deficiencies “for
cockroach presence in two units and a mold-like substance in a bathroom
of another unit.” Neither issue was associated with the original
complaint submitted to HUD.
Budzinski asked residents and local stakeholders why they hadn’t filed
more complaints. The answer she got back: fear of retaliation.
In her Monday letter to Richards, the Pacific Management president and
CEO, Budzinski wrote that the resident who filed the complaint to HUD
was allegedly treated differently by management, including delayed
delivery of mail and delayed resolution of work orders filed by the
resident.
“Due to this alleged retaliation by management, other residents were
hesitant to follow suit with their own complaints,” Budzinski wrote.
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Sangamon Towers, 424 N. Fourth St., is one of 17 residential
properties in Illinois owned by Pacific Management. In a Nov. 13
Illinois Times cover story, “Senior struggle at Sangamon Towers,”
residents and workers said the building is plagued by bedbugs and
other health concerns, along with insufficient security protocols.
(Illinois Times photo by Zach Adams)
Pacific Management owns 17 residential properties in Illinois, most of
which serve low-income and senior communities in northern and central
parts of the state, including Chicago.
Illinois Times reported similar complaints about Near North, a separate
property owned by the company in Springfield, while a 2023 article by
Wednesday Journal documented numerous violations at another property in
Oak Park.
In an email to CNI, Oak Park Trustee James Taglia said he had the
building inspected and found a similar situation as was reported at
Sangamon Towers.
“They racked up more than 500 violations for 200 units,” Taglia wrote.
“It’s a constant battle and we are currently fighting with them over the
exact same things.”
Reacting to the Illinois Times coverage, Richards attributed the issues
to Springfield’s unhoused population, some of whom suffer from addiction
and mental health issues.
“In turn, those external issues impact Sangamon’s tenants, operation,
and security on an ongoing basis,” he said.
Richards added that management was working on addressing the issues,
including by contracting for 24/7 security at the property. The company
does not practice or tolerate retaliation against residents who submit
complaints, according to Richards.
Budzinski said she would follow up again with HUD and continue working
with state and local partners if she did not receive a satisfactory
response to her letter from Pacific Management.
“We’re going to continue to pursue this until we get answers and we see
action from this management company that they are going to fully address
these very serious concerns that the residents have,” Budzinski said.
Affordable housing advocates said this situation is not unique and worry
that proposed budget cuts to HUD will make situations like this one more
common.
“Inadequate HUD budgets and the government shutdown, the terminations of
staff at HUD are making it much more likely or inevitable that these
types of situations might become more frequent or more difficult to deal
with,” said Bob Palmer, policy director at Housing Action Illinois.
In June, the Trump administration proposed a 51% cut to gross
discretionary funding for HUD in 2026. The budget proposes eliminating
programs like Section 8 housing choice vouchers, project-based housing,
public housing and housing for the elderly and people with disabilities.
“It’s crucial that this housing be maintained and preserved because
there is such a shortage of affordable housing in Springfield, in the
rest of Illinois and the rest of the country,” Palmer said.
Capitol News Illinois is
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coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily
by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation. |
