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MVOC, mayor, city unite to fight blight
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Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams
By KATIE SEMINARA
Youngstown’s landlord registration ordinance will be implemented before the mayor’s first term is up.
YOUNGSTOWN — Recent activity by the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative has lighted a fire under residents and city officials to gain control of declining neighborhoods.
The MVOC is dedicated to helping neighborhoods of Youngstown by eliminating vacant and dilapidated properties through organizing efforts between block-watch groups and elected officials.
Collecting specific data on troubled properties in every area of town is one step in the MVOC’s larger plan to revive the living standards of local neighborhoods.
About 75 percent of vacant property surveys are completed, said Kirk Noden, MVOC executive director.
“They paint a compelling picture of the neighborhoods,” said Noden of the surveys he called “extremely accurate.”
It speaks volumes that about 100 neighborhood leaders conducted those surveys, he said of area residents’ recognizing the need for change.
The surveys rate and identify the vacant properties on the city. The MVOC anticipates that all the neighborhood data will be compiled by the beginning of January.
“This is a group we’ve needed for a very long time,” said Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams. “They couldn’t have formed at a more critical time.”
Williams met with Noden and other MVOC organizers recently to discuss the future of a strategic plan to conquer neighborhood blight and housing issues.
“I think we’re on the same page,” said Noden of the city, Williams and the MVOC’s wanting to see Youngstown revitalized.
“I think a key part is going after landlords and implementing landlord registration,” he said, also noting that community development and investment will play prominent roles in cleaning up neighborhoods.
When Williams ran for office, he said the landlord registration ordinance would be implemented in his first term.
“That’s absolutely going to happen,” he said.
The legislation for the ordinance was passed about six to eight years ago and calls for the identification of all landlords in the city and their properties through an equitable fee for each property.
“I’ve revived that legislation, and it needs to be tweaked a little,” said Williams. “We are going to take the original and make sure it fits with where we are going.”
The registration will require landlords to have a sense of accountability for their properties and allow for more property inspections. It will also involve the creation of a tenant bill of rights and landlord bill of rights, said Williams.
“It will be very reasonable, and we won’t make it a financial burden to landlords,” he said, recognizing that many landlords own multiple properties.
The housing situation doesn’t fall solely on the shoulders of landlords.
“It’s a little bit of everything,” said Councilwoman Carol Rimedio-Righetti, D-4th.
Vacant and run-down properties, bad tenants, problem landlords and problem homeowners all contribute to the issue at hand.
The residents of Youngstown want clean and safe neighborhoods, she said.
When the ordinance is enforced, it will help stabilize the city, as well as the housing situation,
“There’s more positives than negatives [in the city] and to keep it that way, we need to start implementing laws and regulations,” said Rimedio-Righetti.
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Comments
“It will be very reasonable, and we won’t make it a financial burden to landlords,”
Right! The costs and blame are being put squarely on the landlords by Jay Williams. The houses are being destroyed by the crackheads and Jay needs their votes. More public housing is needed. Private enterprise cant afford to provide the crackheads housing. Since most crackheads aren't employable more federal funds are needed to keep them from stealing to support their habits.
CLEANING UP YOUNGSTOWN!
WITH CATERPILLAR WE CAN DO IT !
http://www.mericle.com/public/images/sto...
The landlords are the property owners, and in nearly every city, township, whatever, there are ordinance codes to which property owners must adhere.
If landlords can't properly take care of their property, then maybe they should screen their tenants more carefully, or just give up the landlord business.
This works for the landlords, too--it will give them another tool they can use to screen tenants. The bad tenants might try to take better care of their residence, if it becomes increasingly difficult to find their next place to live, after being evicted repeatedly.
The bad tenants are the character of the area. Unachievable expectations of the landlords abound. New public housing should be built and more federal funds should be sought so the tenants wouldn't have to steal to support their drug habits.
CLEANING UP YOUNGSTOWN!
WITH CATERPILLAR WE CAN DO IT !
http://www.mericle.com/public/images/sto...
Stan - "Unachievable expectations"??? Picking up after yourself is an "unachievable expectation" now? Being responsible? Leaving a place in the same condition it was when you moved in?
And am I understanding you clearly - are you advocating giving MORE money to the leeches so they can use it to buy drugs??
I don't understand your thinking at all.
The crackheads need to live in a Utopia provided by government. The landlords of the city don't have the resources to be responsible for all of their tenants activities.
Now why would you call them leeches? This is politically incorrect! They are voters who like to do their own thing. Giving them drugs would cut down on their stealing from productive people. Perhaps bulk purchases of drugs from Mexico with Federal funds would be the solution.
AFTER THE RENAISSANCE
http://i41.tinypic.com/w9w6rd.jpg
<<shudder>> I hope you're being facetious, Stan.
Our clueless mayor is not going to do anything to shake the political bandwagon. He expects private enterprise to pay for his follies. I propose that he uses federal funds to keep his unproductive constituents happy.