Frustrated City Council members say Cleveland needs to do more to help improve
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Frustrated members of City Council used a Tuesday budget hearing to call on Mayor Frank Jackson’s administration to commit more money to address poor housing conditions.
The hearing, a review of federally funded assistance programs and city funded home improvement programs, sparked passionate pleas from members representing homeowners who often can’t afford to make repairs.
“We’ve got this massive problem – working poor, elderly, people who can’t afford to take care of their houses,” Councilman Mike Polensek said. “I’ve seen the low and moderate [income} population expand, and distress expand. I’m dealing with more quality-of-life issues than I ever have.”
The city has several programs to help homeowners, particularly seniors, but not enough, council members said during the meeting of the Development, Planning and Sustainability Committee.
If federal guidelines prevent Cleveland from using the $30 million it receives in block grant funding and emergency assistance funding annually toward bolstering those programs, the city needs to commit more of its money, they said.
“It can’t just be, ‘Well, the guidelines say …’,” Councilman Basheer Jones said. “Our grandparents can’t even fix their freaking roofs.”
Polensek and Jones both represent East Side wards, as does Blaine Griffin. But Griffin noted that housing problems aren’t confined just to East Side neighborhoods.
“There’s some areas on the West Side that are taking it on the chin, too,” he said.
Tuesday’s morning and afternoon sessions – more than six hours combined — were the opening rounds for Cleveland’s 2021 budget process. Beginning next week, the Finance Committee will take up the full $1.8 billion budget. The budget must be approved before April 1.
Community Development Director Michiel Wackers said several factors contribute to Cleveland’s stubborn housing problems. In addition to poverty issues, they include:
- A high percentage of the housing stock was built before 1940.
- Programs have limited numbers of people available to carry them out.
- Banking institutions have shown a hesitancy to invest in some of Cleveland’s blighted neighborhoods.
That last point is important, Wackers said, because support from the banking industry allows development and reinvestment to be stretched. Cleveland’s programs, by themselves, are not enough to keep up with neighborhood needs.
Members floated expansion of two home programs administered by the Community Development Department.
- Basheer Jones proposed easing the income restrictions on the Senior Homeowner Assistance Program that provides vouchers for emergency repairs. Coupled with that, he suggested more resources be put into the program to accommodate a greater number of applicants.
- Councilman Joe Jones urged that funding be doubled for the city’s painting program, which now is set at $500,000 for the year. The program provides paint and supplies for homeowners.
Basheer Jones also suggested that Cleveland push for more federal aid for community development and housing assistance, with U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge stepping into President Joe Biden’s cabinet as secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Fudge, the former mayor of Warrensville Heights, understands urban problems, particularly those of Greater Cleveland, he said.
“We need to be ready so we can go to her and say we’re structurally prepared, but we need more resources,” Basheer Jones said.
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