Wednesday, June 23, 1999
Seniors win city leaders' visit to housing
BY ALLEN HOWARD
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Seniors crowded Cincinnati City Hall again Tuesday, complaining about living conditions, security, poor management and drug use in 12 Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) properties.
They will get a return visit from city officials Friday.
Councilman Charles Winburn, chairman of council's Neighborhood and Small Business Development Committee, which heard the complaints, said he wants committee members and local congressional representatives to visit the housing complexes and view the conditions.
During the meeting in council chambers, committee members were torn between versions of how bad things are and whether there have been improvements.
Councilman Jim Tarbell asked the seniors whether the conditions are better than they were 10 or 20 years ago, a line of questioning that drew jeers from the seniors.
He referred to a CMHA survey in which some seniors said conditions were better since more security cameras had been added.
“I don't know where you are getting your information from,” said Doris Hill, president of the CMHA's tenant council and a resident of Riverview in East Walnut Hills. “We are living proof that things are getting worse. We don't even have managers around to report to. That is why the residents report their problems to the tenant council presidents.”
Mr. Tarbell asked whether it was best for seniors to bring their problems to city hall through the Avondale Public Safety Task Force instead of
going through the community councils.
Councilman Todd Portune said there was no established protocol for citizens to go through to take their problems to city hall. “These are citizens speaking to their government. How they came here is unimportant,” Mr. Portune said.
Tom Jones, chairman of the task force, said he arranged to bring the seniors to City Hall because their complaints had come to his office. “I think they have reached a boiling point and want something done,” Mr. Jones said.
Most of the complaints center around drug use in the buildings, a perceived lack of security and lack of managers on duty, and “mixed living” — seniors having to live in the same building with young drug addicts.
Vice Mayor Minette Cooper, a member of the committee, said that while the city is willing to listen and help, the laws under which the CMHA operates are set by Congress. “I think these problems should be aired with our congressional delegation,” she said.
Mr. Winburn said he wants representatives from Sens. George Voinovich and Mike DeWine and Reps. Steve Chabot and Rob Portman to go on the tour Friday.
Donald Troendle, CMHA director, has said the agency is working to improve conditions. He sent word that he will come before the committee next Tuesday to explain the CMHA's plans.
The other housing complexes include: Maple and Beechwood in Avondale; the Evanston and Marquette in Over-the-Rhine; Park Eden in Walnut Hills; Pinecrest in Price Hill; and Stanley Rowe A&B in the West End.
Mr. Winburn said last week that if the CMHA does not make the improvements the seniors want, he will ask the city to freeze $15 million in matching funds used to demolish and rebuild CMHA complexes Laurel Homes and Lincoln Court in the West End.
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