First in her state, first in the hearts of her tenants

With two kids, a husband, a business, and a volunteer position heading an Oak Harbor girls basketball association, it’s hard to believe Judie Gonzales has time to hold down a full-time job, let along be able to do that job better than anyone else in the state.

But that is indeed the case, and Gonzales has the award to prove it. In April, she was honored as “Manager of the Year” at a ceremony in Wenatchee during the convention of the Washington State Council for Affordable and Rural Housing.

Gonzales holds court daily in her small office at the entrance to Harbor Heights Apartments near the corner of Crosby Avenue and Oak Harbor Street. She’s the calm in the eye of the storm as tenants walk in with a variety of needs and questions. In a few minutes one day last week, she commiserated as one tenant complained about her job, listened attentively as another wanted something done about “the door handle thingie in the bedroom that doesn’t pop up,” cited from memory the items on a “move-in list” for a new tenant to address, and nodded affirmatively to a woman who popped her head in the door and asked if this month’s rent had been paid.

All the concerns were dealt with promptly and in good spirits, and on the way out more than one happy tenant helped herself to candy from the frog bowl on the manager’s desk.

Gonzales has the gift of making business personal, although she’s careful to separate the two. “There’s a fine line knowing when to stop being personal and do business,” she said. “It’s tough to stop being friends and start being a landlord.”

But when she means business, people know it. Gonzales has managed the 35-unit apartment complex for seven years. Today it’s a tranquil, happy place, but that wasn’t how she found it when she was hired by Diamond Management.

“We had a huge drug problem,” Gonzales said. “I did major house cleaning. It’s a long process, the law is definitely on the side of the tenant.”

Eventually, Gonzales got rid of all the bad apples, and today she has reliable tenants in every unit. As a low-income subsidized housing complex, many of the residents have family or financial problems, but Gonzalez helps them meet their needs.

She doesn’t do it all by herself. She has an enforcer in Sandra Long, her security person. Long has lived at Harbor Heights for years. She remembers how it was before Gonzales took over, and she’s determined to help keep it nice and quiet.

“Sandy is my investigator,” Gonzales said. “I can count on her, she’s my eyes and ears when I’m not here.”

Gonzales can’t be at the apartment complex all the time because she’s so busy in other areas. She helps her husband Derick run their business, Oceanside Renovating, and takes care of Paula, 13, and Logan, 6. The kids are active in school and athletics, and Gonzales serves as president of the Girls AAU basketball team. She helped organize a tournament this year that brought 22 teams to Oak Harbor.

Long admits to keeping a close eye on the place, even examining garbage cans if she expects illicit behavior is going on. “They call me the snitch,” she said gruffly. “But I don’t mind because I want it safe for my grandkids,” who also live at the complex.

Together, they’re obviously doing a fine job of keeping Harbor Heights a desirable place to live. Annie Brady, a single woman, was moving in last week after checking out a number of potential apartments in the area. “I like the location and it’s quiet,” she said.

The statewide organization that honored her as Manager of the Year noted the difficult circumstances in which Gonzales operates. The citation describes Oak Harbor as “oversaturated with new apartments” with “rampant” vacancies.

“Judie (Gonzales) has had the most difficult tenants and most challenging market of any of our managers (but) . . . she has managed to create a complete and harmonious tenant base. She genuinely cares about her residents and the property,” states the citation.

Long puts it a little more succinctly in describing her boss. “She’s a great landlady, she’s out there helping all of us.”

Another tenant who stopped by the office was thrilled when she heard about the honor Gonzales received. “I love her,” said Jodie Gilbert, who has lived at Harbor Heights for two years. “She’s just been really good to me and helps me out a lot. I’m not going to talk any more, I’ll cry.”

With that she got a hug from Gonzales who simply said, “You get attached to the good ones.”

Her tenants would say the same about her.

First in her state, first in the hearts of her tenants

With two kids, a husband, a business, and a volunteer position heading an Oak Harbor girls basketball association, it’s hard to believe Judie Gonzales has time to hold down a full-time job, let along be able to do that job better than anyone else in the state.

But that is indeed the case, and Gonzales has the award to prove it. In April, she was honored as “Manager of the Year” at a ceremony in Wenatchee during the convention of the Washington State Council for Affordable and Rural Housing.

Gonzales holds court daily in her small office at the entrance to Harbor Heights Apartments near the corner of Crosby Avenue and Oak Harbor Street. She’s the calm in the eye of the storm as tenants walk in with a variety of needs and questions. In a few minutes one day last week, she commiserated as one tenant complained about her job, listened attentively as another wanted something done about “the door handle thingie in the bedroom that doesn’t pop up,” cited from memory the items on a “move-in list” for a new tenant to address, and nodded affirmatively to a woman who popped her head in the door and asked if this month’s rent had been paid.

All the concerns were dealt with promptly and in good spirits, and on the way out more than one happy tenant helped herself to candy from the frog bowl on the manager’s desk.

Gonzales has the gift of making business personal, although she’s careful to separate the two. “There’s a fine line knowing when to stop being personal and do business,” she said. “It’s tough to stop being friends and start being a landlord.”

But when she means business, people know it. Gonzales has managed the 35-unit apartment complex for seven years. Today it’s a tranquil, happy place, but that wasn’t how she found it when she was hired by Diamond Management.

“We had a huge drug problem,” Gonzales said. “I did major house cleaning. It’s a long process, the law is definitely on the side of the tenant.”

Eventually, Gonzales got rid of all the bad apples, and today she has reliable tenants in every unit. As a low-income subsidized housing complex, many of the residents have family or financial problems, but Gonzalez helps them meet their needs.

She doesn’t do it all by herself. She has an enforcer in Sandra Long, her security person. Long has lived at Harbor Heights for years. She remembers how it was before Gonzales took over, and she’s determined to help keep it nice and quiet.

“Sandy is my investigator,” Gonzales said. “I can count on her, she’s my eyes and ears when I’m not here.”

Gonzales can’t be at the apartment complex all the time because she’s so busy in other areas. She helps her husband Derick run their business, Oceanside Renovating, and takes care of Paula, 13, and Logan, 6. The kids are active in school and athletics, and Gonzales serves as president of the Girls AAU basketball team. She helped organize a tournament this year that brought 22 teams to Oak Harbor.

Long admits to keeping a close eye on the place, even examining garbage cans if she expects illicit behavior is going on. “They call me the snitch,” she said gruffly. “But I don’t mind because I want it safe for my grandkids,” who also live at the complex.

Together, they’re obviously doing a fine job of keeping Harbor Heights a desirable place to live. Annie Brady, a single woman, was moving in last week after checking out a number of potential apartments in the area. “I like the location and it’s quiet,” she said.

The statewide organization that honored her as Manager of the Year noted the difficult circumstances in which Gonzales operates. The citation describes Oak Harbor as “oversaturated with new apartments” with “rampant” vacancies.

“Judie (Gonzales) has had the most difficult tenants and most challenging market of any of our managers (but) . . . she has managed to create a complete and harmonious tenant base. She genuinely cares about her residents and the property,” states the citation.

Long puts it a little more succinctly in describing her boss. “She’s a great landlady, she’s out there helping all of us.”

Another tenant who stopped by the office was thrilled when she heard about the honor Gonzales received. “I love her,” said Jodie Gilbert, who has lived at Harbor Heights for two years. “She’s just been really good to me and helps me out a lot. I’m not going to talk any more, I’ll cry.”

With that she got a hug from Gonzales who simply said, “You get attached to the good ones.”

Her tenants would say the same about her.