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.