As a manager of two apartment complexes, Sandy McAlister has been aware of Austin’s housing shortage for some time.

Friday, October 29, 1999

As a manager of two apartment complexes, Sandy McAlister has been aware of Austin’s housing shortage for some time. As a person, she became aware of MetroTemp President Bobbi Goebel more recently.

It was as a concerned citizen that McAlister contacted the Austin Daily Herald Wednesday.

"A person who identified herself as Bobbi Goebel called me here at the apartment complex last week," McAlister said. "I have no way of knowing whether she really was who she said she was, but after reading the story in Tuesday’s paper about Luna, I had to say something."

The story McAlister was referring to concerned allegations of broken promises and extremely crowded housing – provided by MetroTemp Employment Agency – made by Hugo Luna at a town meeting Monday night.

Goebel denied the allegations in a phone interview Wednesday.

McAlister said initially the caller wanted her help with a place called The Mission, a building located north of Austin near the junction of U.S. Highway 218 and old Highway 218. Currently the building houses an unknown number of workers – Goebel said a maximum of 10, Mike Woods, who slept there for several days, said more like 15. The occupants sleep in bunk beds and share bathroom and limited kitchen facilities.

"I told her that personally I don’t approve and wouldn’t support living accommodations like that," McAlister said. "It sounds inhuman."

In telling her story, McAlister stressed that she was not speaking on behalf of the agency that employs her, but as a concerned citizen.

"After that, this woman calling herself Bobbi Goebel said I should start doubling up families in the apartments out here … that she would take care of doing all the background and reference checks and all I would have to do is hand out keys. None of the paperwork ever leaves my office – I do all the checks myself," McAlister added.

"When I refused and explained to her that it doesn’t work that way, this woman told me ‘they’re used to living three, four families to a house.’ I asked her who she meant by ‘they’ and she refused to answer."

McAlister, said, in the end, she told Goebel of two vacancies she had in Adams, but Goebel wasn’t interested because she thought the people might miss work with severe winter weather.

"As an apartment manager, I am fair, legal and consistent. I welcome these families moving into Austin with open arms, but unfortunately, there isn’t enough housing. I won’t break the rules though, and neither should they. If they break the lease agreement, we end up with two homeless families instead of one.

"It’s a heart-wrenching situation."