Council and Mayor Discuss New Strategies to Address Affordable Housing and Prevent Evictions
[COLUMBUS-OH]
In the face of a national debate on affordable housing, Columbus City
Councilmember Jaiza Page joined Mayor Andrew J. Ginther today to discuss new
plans to address the local challenge and offer ideas to specifically reduce the
number of evictions. The issue of safe and affordable housing in the City
of Columbus took place at the Residences at Career Gateway Training Center, 755
E. Whittier, with dozens of local community housing advocates and stakeholders.
“We’ve
heard the statistics, and we know the housing problem is affecting too many
families,” said Councilmember Page. “We can put names and faces to the numbers
and today we are talking about steps the City is exploring with our partners at
Franklin County, the court system and throughout the nonprofit and private
sectors to help keep families in their homes.”
Over
the past three years, Council studied the factors leading to housing
instability. Through courthouse-to-community workshops and partnerships with
Ohio State University to learn more about evictions and community land trusts,
City and County officials are now forming new policies to address multiple
challenges.
Key
to the research results; housing instability is rooted in landlord tenanted
relations, land usage and poverty. The collaborations identified pathways
to neighborhood stabilization:
- Find
ways to strengthen tenant/landlord relationships
- Develop
partnerships with local organizations like the Columbus Apartment
Association to establish an emergency eviction prevention fund to provide
assistance to families and individuals in a financial emergency.
- Review
Columbus retaliatory eviction code and make changes to protect tenants
from unfair and unlawful evictions.
- Work
with the Franklin County Commissioners to expand the Central Ohio
Community Land Trust to provide low and moderate income individual’s
sustainable affordable housing.
Over
the coming months, the Mayor, Columbus City Council, and Franklin County
Commissioners will further explore these options and any necessary legislation
and funding to address the growing regional challenge.
“We
cannot afford to spare one aging resident or one family who has hit a financial
hardship and needs a help to get over a temporary hurdle,” said Page. “I
am here to say we have heard your cries and seen your tears. We are here to
help.”
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