Cathleen Allison/Nevada Appeal
Late night intervention from the Carson City District Attorney's office Wednesday prompted NV Energy to restore power to a motel that had been without since Tuesday, leaving its tenants, many of them with small children, in the cold.
District Attorney Neil Rombardo said a summary notice of abatement of nuisance was served on the Downtowner Motor Inn at 801 N. Carson St. about 9 p.m.
Officials then called NV Energy and a technician had the power back on by 9:30 p.m.
"At least leave the power on for the night and these people will have some warmth," said Rombardo, who was at the scene Wednesday night.
He said since acting owner Ralph Ahmad could not be contacted, the city had the right and obligation to do something.
While most of the troubles with owner Ahmad have been civil " such as filing for bankruptcy in December " Rombardo said if Ahmad continues to fail to provide for the tenants, he could be held criminally responsible.
"We do have certain habitability requirements and if they fail to meet those they can be prosecuted for criminal offense," he said.
Power to the 33-room unit in downtown Carson City was shut off Tuesday morning. Residents said motel management handed out candles and bags of ice for their refrigerators.
Rebecca Ferris, who has been at the motel about three months, said she is furious that the power was turned off in her room. She has three children ages 5 and under whom she has to feed and keep warm, she said.
"I can't afford not to have power," said Ferris, 33.
Erick Zellmer sent his 15-year-old son to spend the night with a friend. He said he and his wife were able to keep warm Tuesday night. Temperatures dropped below 20 degrees early Wednesday morning.
Zellmer said they can't move out even if he wanted.
"We can go without power until they drag us out by our heels," said Zellmer, who has lived at the Downtowner about eight months. "We have nowhere else to go."
In December the city almost moved residents out of the two-story motel at Carson and Washington streets after electricity was shut off for several hours because of missed utility payments.
At a February auction the DiMartino family bought the Downtowner, but when they tried to take it over, Ahmad filed a lawsuit against the family and refused to leave.
Frank DiMartino of Carson City said the family is waiting to get a court date to evict Ahmad. They plan to sell the motel.
"The situation down there put us in a real precarious position because you have a lot of little children and a lot of folks in need of medical care, incapable of relocating in the middle of the night. People were using candles and improvising light and heat which created a real problem," said Sheriff Ken Furlong. "The DAs office has given notice to the owners of the property that they cannot turn the power off without (notifying) the people that they must vacate. Either take over the power bill, or vacate the people. It's the owner's responsibility. You can't leave people like that."
Furlong said the Downtowner's history of being a haven for drug users and a blight on the community continues with Ahmad's apparent neglect.
"The Downtowner is a failed business and it needs to be closed. You cannot operate like this," he said.