South Tucson tenants presented a report to the City Council Tuesday alleging months of retaliation, harassment and policy violations by the Housing Authority's director, prompting officials to call for a formal investigation.

The South Tucson Tenants Union began organizing in June, demanding better living conditions and more dignity in the city's public housing.

More than 40 housing authority tenants attended an Aug. 25 meeting of the city's housing board, with 11 speaking publicly about “mistreatment, mismanagement, intimidation, harassment and … nepotism.” The union said in a news release that Housing Director Irma Gonzales "scoffed and laughed" at tenants as they shared their stories.

During a Sept. 1 City Council meeting, members described an elderly resident who soiled himself after being unable to reach his room in time because of a broken elevator that residents had repeatedly complained about.

On Sept. 8, the union took to Instagram with a post that questioned if Gonzales is a public servant or a "slumlord." The post detailed several claims, including retaliation and harassment of tenants, excessive fees, discrimination on the basis of disability, video and audio surveillance, and a lack of grievance procedures.Gonzales has served as director since 2025, with the union accusing her of neglecting maintenance service, harassing tenants and levying fees on tenants before pushing for eviction.

Union representative Marisol Herrera told Tucson Spotlight that a majority of the Housing Authority's tenants are older adults who are more vulnerable to heat-related illnesses and often require accommodations to move through life with dignity.

“One thing that is common across everybody that we've talked to is that they have already existing health conditions that are exacerbated by what is going on,” Herrera said.

Some of the apartments have live asbestos or mold infestations, Herrera said.

In other cases, Gonzales allegedly levied fees up to $250 against tenants for having a baby pool or leaving a tap running too long, which Herrera said are not conditions of the lease or standard practices under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which oversees and funds local public housing authorities like South Tucson's and sets the rules they're required to follow in managing federally subsidized housing.

Herrera said tenants often see these fines cited afterward as grounds for an eviction warning.

“The chronic stress and anxiety that people are experiencing because of the behavior of the housing director … has made them feel like they're living in a prison simply because they're living in public housing,” Herrera said. “A lot of tenants have a lot of fear (because) she's so quick to threaten eviction. For a lot of people, this housing is the only thing keeping them from homelessness.”

Herrera also said housing authority employees who opposed or didn't align with Gonzales have been fired or replaced.

Herrera said that despite repeated complaints to city officials, South Tucson City Manager Veronica Moreno has told her that Gonzales will not be leaving her position.

“She's making it very clear that she has no plans to enforce any kind of change,” Herrera said.

Moreno told Tucson Spotlight she's working with Gonzales to “gather information and review the individual allegations that have been raised so we can understand what occurred and respond appropriately.”

“I can say that eviction is not something the South Tucson Housing Authority has ever taken lightly,” Moreno said. “We want residents to remain successfully housed. At the same time, though, we have a duty to administer the housing program fairly and enforce lease obligations when serious issues arise. That's the balance we try to strike.”

On Tuesday, the tenants union presented an official report to the City Council during a special meeting, claiming Gonzales has "violated and continues to violate” state law and demanding a formal investigation.

“Since Irma began her tenure in May of 2025, residents have experienced a change in the culture of their lives, of the place where they live, particularly characterized by fear, fear that pervades every day and every space of the properties that they live at,” Herrera told council members. “This is a place where people with low income, people with disabilities, people of elderly age, people who require the most care, the most love and compassion, and she has used their particular vulnerability as a way to increase her own power, abuse the power of the role, abuse the lack of oversight, to achieve whatever goals she has, whether they be financial or personal.”

The council opened the floor to public comment, with several other attendees speaking about the situation.

Lori March has lived at the housing authority for 14 years and told council members that a short-notice elevator repair put tenants at risk in the event of a fire, and that requests for reasonable accommodations for impacted tenants went ignored.

“She never responded to that email,” March said. “She totally ignored us. This is illegal and uncompassionate.”

Jose Julian, a 17-year-old tenant, has lived at the housing authority for most of his life, along with his mom and sister.

Julian said his unit has broken pipes and his family went without air conditioning for a week in mid-July, with requests for maintenance going unanswered.

“It's always a battle like once something happens, once it's resolved, something else happens,” Julian said. “Our apartment has started forming mold from the broken pipes, which has been causing my mom to get sick. Where we had no air conditioning, and we asked for maintenance for at least a couple days … they said no. They just gave us a portable AC, which was not enough to cool down the whole house. It would get to 100 degrees plus.”

Julian's sister, Genesis Compean, echoed his concerns.

“I sent emails that (the portable air conditioning) was not enough, and they (responded) ‘You have to wait, you have to wait,'” Compean said. “I asked if there was any type of accommodation, any motel or anything, where we could stay for a few days. She said it was not possible. Now we are dealing with lots of mold. We have had floods. They come, they fix it for a moment, and then it messes up. I let them know (by) email, and nothing gets done.”

Juanita Parra came to the housing authority after having to leave her previous home due to domestic violence.

“During an appointment, I commented (to Gonzales) that my roof was leaking,” Parra told council members in Spanish. “I have reported it several times. Once the July rain arrived, my apartment flooded, flooding my bed and bedroom.”

Parra eventually left the complex, claiming she faced retaliation from Gonzales after reporting her maintenance issues.

“On specific occasions, she has passed by my home in her car at 6 in the morning, at 7 at night, recognizing which car was mine. She passed by and took pictures of my home, of myself, and even my son without my permission or authorization,” Parra said. “She said to me in-person that she would evict me, that if I didn't leave, it would affect my HUD record in finding housing somewhere else.”

Nora has been a tenant at the complex for 19 years and lives with several mental health conditions. Nora said her mother requested a smaller unit, and during a meeting with Gonzales, Gonzales said her mother would be first on the list due to her health conditions.

When a smaller unit became available, Gonzales requested medical documentation of those conditions.

“I received a document to fill out, I gave it to her doctor, she signed it, and at the end of the day, we turned in the paperwork,” Nora told the council in Spanish. “(Gonzales) called her doctor and told her she couldn't sign the document since she wasn't a (mental health) specialist, and was asking questions on (my mom's) disability for her accommodation.”

Nora's mother later suffered an accident that left her with burns on her legs, requiring several surgeries and a two-week stay at a local hospital.

“My mother received a note stating that she had to move out from her apartment. We told (Gonzales) that we were aware she had to move … but requested if she could give us more time to move since she was in no condition to move. (Gonzales) said no,” Nora said.

Vice Mayor Melissa Brown-Dominguez criticized attendees for making the allegations public without giving Gonzales a chance to respond.

“I want to be clear that tenants have every right to speak up about their housing, but you don't get to skip every step that makes a process fair and then expect us to fire someone on their timeline based on only one version of events,” Brown-Dominguez said. “Personnel decisions about the director are normally the city manager's call, not ours.”

Brown-Dominguez called for an administrative investigation by the city manager's office and asked Mayor Roxanna Valenzuela and Councilman Cesar Aguirre if they encouraged tenants to push for Gonzales' firing.

Valenzuela and Aguirre did not answer.

Brown-Dominguez also pointed to an Instagram post by the tenant's union encouraging community members to call and email the Housing Authority directly to demand Gonzales' resignation.

The campaign not only prompted hostile messages directed at Gonzales, but led someone to put up flyers with her picture in her neighborhood.

“I do agree with my colleague here that it's important to understand and get a full picture of everything,” said Councilwoman Dulce Jimenez. “I also think that there is a lot of evidence here for just a lack of human compassion that seems to be happening, and clear policy violations that are also going on.”

Moreno confirmed that the city will conduct an investigation into the tenants' claims.

Quentin Agnello is a University of Arizona alum and freelance journalist in Tucson. Contact him at qsagnello@gmail.com.

Topacio “Topaz” Servellon is a reporter with Tucson Spotlight. Contact them at topacioserve@gmail.com.

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