Reports of decreased safety at College Park Campus Commons apartments near Autzen Stadium, formerly University Commons, seem to be unfounded based on Eugene police records.
In January 2006, EPD received 138 calls for service to the Kinsrow Avenue area, compared to 132 calls last month, Eugene police crime analyst Stan Lenhart said.
Last year, about 28 percent of calls for service were for the University Commons address, he said.
College Park Campus Commons is popular with University students. Those who live there give it mixed reviews.
University senior Chris Dearmon said he’s sick and tired of being asked if he wants to buy drugs when he leaves his apartment and walks through the parking lot of the complex.
“I don’t think it’s safe at all,” he said. “I want to move out as soon as possible, but I signed a lease.”
A manager at the former University Commons – called “Comptons” on a Facebook group message board – quit her job in November because she said a new management company that purchased the property five months ago was unresponsive to security issues.
Some residents, however, said they feel safer since Pennsylvania-based GMH Communities bought the complex from Alabama-based Capstone Properties at the beginning of the school year.
Talea Hayes, a sophomore at Lane Community College, said new management is responsive to all security issues, and an alarm in her apartment will call security if she pushes a button.
University sophomore Lucas Bargmann, originally from Dallas, said intimidating security guards add a sense of security.
“I feel completely safe,” Bargmann said. “There’s more security walking around on the complex now.”
Amber Lycett, former assistant manager under Capstone and former acting manager with GMH, said that GMH decreased security on the grounds in November – a week after approving increased security patrols. Lycett said she had requested one guard on duty in the afternoon and two on duty at night.
In a Nov. 13, 2006 e-mail announcing her resignation to GMH, she wrote: “I was notified today that I am to pull my extra security off the property. I want you to know that I am deeply offended that the personal security of this site and its tenants are not worth, what to your company, is a minor expense.”
GMH spokesman Greg Matusky said the company has in fact extended “courtesy patrols” but wouldn’t comment on specifics.
“For security of residents, we’re not about to say how often we’re patrolling our properties,” he said. “But we are patrolling them.”
He also could not comment on what courtesy patrols consist of due to security reasons, he said.
“Since we’ve purchased the property, we have had no substantial complaints,” Matusky said.
Current property manager Stacy Sackrider said in an e-mail that the complex is safe, and Eugene police said the Kinsrow Avenue area crime rate is average when compared to the rest of the city. Service calls to the area for last month are similar when compared to last year, according to Eugene police.
Capstone, which opened the complex in 1999, hired security firms to patrol the grounds with one guard on duty at night starting in 2004, former general manger Gary Gilfoy said.
After four years on the job, Gilfoy was not hired when GMH bought the complex.
Matusky said that Lycett and Gilfoy are “disgruntled” employees and called the allegations “groundless.”
Lycett said former managers and security guards carried semi-automatic guns for defense during the end of summer and into early fall of 2006 under Capstone ownership.
“As much as I was on the property dealing with problems, I felt it was necessary to arm myself,” she said.
Rob Howland, president of Capstone Properties, said it’s against company policy for any employees to carry handguns.
“I have no recollection of that happening,” he said. “We just manage too many locations to remember.”
New owners GMH didn’t allow employees to carry weapons, and Lycett said she signed a contract to agree to a weapons-free workplace.
“We have a zero-weapons policy on our properties,” Matusky said. “There’s no need to have weapons on this property. This is a very safe property.” He added that he wasn’t aware of any employees carrying weapons under Capstone ownership.
Eugene police spokeswoman Melinda Kletzok said residents need a permit to carry concealed weapons under city ordinances.
Former manager Gilfoy said he and Lycett took safety classes before purchasing the guns.
Gilfoy, who has 25 years of experience in property management, said he worked hard to turn around the former University Commons and increased the occupancy rate while he was employed with Capstone. He added that a 2004 stabbing on the complex created a reputation for the apartments.
“I used to refer to the (University) Commons as an ATM machine with feet for Eugene police because of all the MIPs they could write,” Gilfoy said.
Current property manager Sackrider said that College Park Campus Commons has an occupancy rate of 93.8 percent.
“I live on the property as a single mother with three children,” she said. “During my career, I have worked at other student housing communities. I can tell you that I feel extremely safe here at Campus Commons, as do my children.”
The Eugene Police Department hasn’t seen an increase in service calls to the Kinsrow Avenue area between 2006, when Capstone owned the property, and the time GMH has owned the property. The area also includes Duck’s Village, another off-campus student housing complex.
Lenhart said the Kinsrow Avenue area is generally safe when compared to the rest of the city. He added that company management style is important to preventing crime at complexes like College Park Campus Commons and Duck’s Village.
“The police can’t take over all patrolling and control of a complex,” he said. “The management companies have to be responsible for what goes on in that area. Some are better than others, and we work closely with them.”
Lenhart said EPD takes calls to the area seriously.
“Eugene is spread out quite a bit,” he said. “We have 12 to 17 officers on at any given time. Often, we don’t have the time to get to the call in timely manner.”
Last year, calls for service included loud noise, disputes, and thefts, Lenhart said.
Michelle Turner, manager at Duck’s Village, said the complex employs one security guard during weeknights and two security guards on weekend evenings.
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