SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - Flood survivors are raising concerns about the company contracted by the County to oversee hotel vouchers.
“And this is how I'm getting treated. We’re all taxpayers. This is not right,” said Lisa Sheffield at this week's County Board meeting. She was sounding off on Equus, the company contracted by the county to run the voucher program.
ABC 10News has told you about the plight of Sheffield's family before. ABC 10News Anchor Wale Aliyu visited with her family several times, after flood waters swamped their Spring Valley home. Sheffield's husband is an amputee veteran, battling heart and kidney failure.
The family was staying on a voucher at the Ramada by Wyndham in National City, when the County took over the voucher program in mid-February. As the check-out date approached, Sheffield's son, Keirington Pankey, says they contacted Equus repeatedly to find out about an extension.
“My mom called them. I called them. Did follow-up calls, emails,” said Pankey.
He says they never got a response.
Pankey says on the check-out day, his family of 7 checked out in the morning, then walked to a parking lot and waited with their bags for hours, not knowing if they had been extended.
Later that day, hotel staff told them Equus had extended them.
“Am I'm going to have this place to stay so I can focus on repairs? This is unneeded stress, unwanted stress,” said Pankey.
Over the past month, there have been more examples of frustrations over the hotel vouchers, from a flood victim mistakenly to a shuttered hotel in San Ysidro, to another family, the Meza family, suddenly forced to check out of their hotel, before the County ultimately placed them in another.
A County spokesperson say they've heard the complaints about Equus, and most center around a lack of communication.
At Tuesday's county board meeting, Equus CEO Mark Douglas addressed the complaints.
“I apologize. The weight of all of the pain I heard today. I sit with that, and I own it … I am sorry … We will make it right,” said Douglas.
“We want to be able to communicate better and to know if we have stabile housing," said Pankey.
A County spokesperson told us, they have also asked Equus to improve communication, including finding out how flood survivors want to receive messages.
The County says they've begun making assessments to extend vouchers past March 25, when they are set to expire.
A Gofundme campaign has been set up to help Sheffield's family with the recovery process.
