Managers of Sylmar Complex Commended
Managers of the Astoria Gardens Apartments in Sylmar received a Los Angeles City Council commendation Wednesday for their efforts to free the complex from drugs, gangs and prostitutes.
Dale and Dorothy Hirzel have used techniques, including citizen’s arrests, to dissuade the criminals, according to the commendation, which had been proposed by Councilman Ernani Bernardi.
The commendation said the couple became managers of the complex one block south of Foothill Boulevard in September, 1988, “when the tenants were so controlled by these elements that the complex resembled a concentration camp. . . . They were terrified of leaving their apartments to go to work or even check the mail.”
Despite tenant skepticism at first, death threats and the theft and vandalism of their vehicles, the Hirzels persevered, Bernardi said.
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