“The Moment the Room Saw It: Evidence, Exposure, and the Question the City Can No Longer Avoid”
A Malik Washington Investigation | Destination Freedom Media Group | The Davis Vanguard
The room changed the moment the video was shown. It wasn’t loud. There was no chaos. No one needed to shout. Because once it appeared—once the image settled into view—there was no longer anything to debate.
A rat.
Inside an apartment.
On the interior windowsill.
Not outside. Not theoretical. Not buried in a report. Inside.
And in that moment, inside a Tenant Association meeting at Alice Griffith Apartments on May 4, 2026, the conversation shifted from claims to evidence—from disagreement to documentation—from denial to exposure.
THE ROOM WHERE EVERYONE WAS PRESENT
This was not a private grievance session.
Present in that room were residents, management, media—and the City itself.
Investigator Melissa Millsaps of the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office, assigned under City Attorney David Chiu, was there to gather evidence as part of an ongoing investigation.
Her presence was not symbolic. It was documented. The City was not waiting for a report. The City was in the room while the evidence was presented.
Destination Freedom Media Group appreciates City Attorney David Chiu’s attention to this serious matter, which has negatively impacted District 10 residents for nearly a decade. It is our sincere hope that we will see some true accountability from these corporate property management companies that continue to target the most vulnerable members of our San Francisco community.
Also present was Adrian Tirtanadi, Executive Director of Open Door Legal, who introduced Maika Pinkston as a new team member tasked with helping process referrals and ensuring District 10 residents receive legal support.
Maika Pinkston is also the Executive Director and founder of the nonprofit “From the Heart,” an organization engaged in tenant counseling, support, and advocacy.
The legal infrastructure is present. The question is whether it will meet the urgency of the conditions.
I interviewed Open Door Legal Executive Director Adrian Tirtanadi after the Tenant meeting, and he had this to say:
“At the meeting, we heard directly from residents about rodent infestations, mold, broken elevators, and broken promises from management. The fact that tenants stated they were better off in the old Alice Griffith housing project, as opposed to their new 8-year-old building, underscores how serious the conditions have become.
At Open Door Legal, we plan on responding to these concerns by ramping up our affirmative housing practice and partnering with From the Heart on tenant counseling and advocacy. It’s so important that all landlords, whether they rent to the wealthy or to the vulnerable, follow the law and ensure safe, habitable homes for their tenants.”
His response does more than acknowledge the moment. It places the conditions at Alice Griffith within a legal framework—one where habitability is not optional, and where enforcement is not discretionary.
THE ADMISSION
Before the video, there was already acknowledgment. Ron Bowen confirmed what residents had been living through—a serious rodent infestation—and described conditions involving feces, urine, fur, and feathers.
But what emerged next removed any remaining distance between problem and reality. The on-site security office itself could not be occupied due to rat infestation, confirmed by Captain Delfis of Resolve Security and acknowledged by Bowen. The infestation is no longer peripheral. It has reached the spaces responsible for safety itself.
THE EVIDENCE
Then came the video.
Tenant Jarhonda Jones presented footage appearing to show a rat on the interior windowsill of a residential unit. For residents, it was not shocking. It was confirmation.
Because in Bayview–Hunters Point, truth is rarely hidden—it is endured.
THE SYSTEM OF WORKAROUNDS
When elevators fail, management described a system of “runners.” When the system fails, the solution is not repair. It is adaptation.
Packages delivered.
Medications carried.
Lives paused.
WHEN THE WORKAROUND BREAKS DOWN
Then the room spoke back.
“I am not your ‘runner,’” Walt said to Ron Bowen.
“I am not your ‘runner.’”
What was described as a system was, in reality, human compassion filling institutional gaps. One resident reported being trapped for over a month. One entire month. I want everyone reading this article to think about that. This was not an inconvenience. This was liken to confinement in a local jail.
At the same time, residents raised another concern—one that shadows every exposure.
Retaliation. Reports that speaking up comes with consequence. In some cases, the risk is not just exposure—it is speaking about the exposure.
TWO REALITIES IN ONE ROOM
The meeting revealed something deeper.
One tenant spoke of an elevator that had not worked in eight years.
Management offered timelines.
Assurances.
Projections.
Two realities. One lived. One reported.
And only one of them requires endurance.
THE QUESTION OF NOTICE
There was a time when this could have been dismissed as complaint.
That time has passed.
The City has been told.
The City has heard.
The City was in the room.
The question is no longer whether the City knows. The question is what the City will do with what it knows.
THE PRICE OF BEING POOR—UPDATED
This series has traced the pattern.
Unsafe conditions.
Delayed response.
Voices raised—and too often unanswered.
But Part 8 forces a deeper truth into the light.
The price of being poor is not just exposure to risk. It is living in conditions that are documented—and still unresolved.
And for some, it is something even more dangerous:
Speaking—and wondering what comes next.
A DIRECT CALL TO ACTION
The threshold has been crossed.
The evidence exists.
The admissions exist.
The conditions persist.
Accountability must follow.
The San Francisco Department of Public Health must act.
The City Attorney’s Office must act.
Oversight bodies must act.
Because presence is not protection.
Observation is not enforcement.
And sisters and brothers dare I ask: “Where in the World are those ‘Good Brothers and Good Sisters’ from the Tabernacle Group??? Excuse the pun but they have been as quiet as a CHURCH HOUSE MOUSE! This is definitely not the time for silence. This is the time to speak up for your people’s rights.
THE BOTTOM LINE
At Alice Griffith Apartments:
The conditions have been described
The issues have been acknowledged
The evidence has been shown
The City has been present
There is no longer a question of awareness. Only a question of action.
And in Bayview–Hunters Point, that question is never abstract.
It is measured in health.
It is measured in dignity.
It is measured in time.
And for too many residents—time has already run out.
REST IN POWER DEWAYNE GAINES. GONE BUT DEFINITELY NOT FORGOTTEN……All Power to the People.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Malik Washington is a San Francisco-based journalist and co-founder of Destination Freedom Media Group, an independent nonprofit newsroom dedicated to accountability reporting at the intersection of civil rights, public integrity, disability justice, structural accountability within American institutions, and community survival. He has been a published journalist for over 14 years.
His work—published in partnership with the Davis Vanguard—focuses on government power, criminal justice, environmental justice, and the human consequences of policy decisions too often insulated from public scrutiny. Washington’s reporting amplifies the voices of impacted communities while insisting on documentary evidence, transparency, and the unvarnished truth—especially when institutions demand silence.
His work appears on platforms such as Muck Rack and Black Voice News, examining the intersection of justice, governance, and community.
You can reach him via email: mwashington2059@gmail.com or call him at (719) 715-9592.
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