City government on notice regarding slum properties

If the story at the top of the Local section in Friday’s Vindicator had a familiar ring to it, that’s because of the bottom line: There are owners of properties in the city who just don’t seem to care that they’re contributing to the long- standing problem of blight.

Several years ago, The Vindicator published an investigative series about children in the city suffering from the effects of lead poisoning. The stories revealed that the children were living in or had lived in homes — mostly in the inner city — with lead-based paint.

The stories also highlighted the fact that many of the landlords did little or nothing to address the problems of peeling paint until forced to by city and county governments.

And most disturbing: Some of the property owners lived in suburban communities that would never permit such health hazards to exist.

Because of the newspaper’s spotlighting the reality that more than 7,000 children in Mahoning County — a vast majority from the city of Youngstown — were suffering the effects of lead poisoning, the federal government got involved.

In the last couple of years, an aggressive campaign has forced landlords to remediate their properties with lead-based paint or to demolish the structures. In addition, children showing the effects of the poisoning are being treated.

We refer to The Vindicator series to show what can happen when public awareness is heightened and government officials are forced to not only explain why such dangerous situations exist, but to detail how they intend to respond.

The newspaper story Friday carried the following headline: “Block watch demands landlord cleanup.” It referred to a meeting Thursday of the 7th Ward Citizens Coalition and the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative at which concern was expressed about one landlord who owns 360 properties in the city.

Some of them have been deemed “unslightly” and the groups want the landlord to address the problems associated with his properties.

Target of arsonists

But it isn’t just about appearance. As was brought out during the meeting, two of the vacant houses were the targets of arsonists, and one of the properties was filled with old tires.

“We’re here tonight because we’re sick of it,” said James London, president of the Idora Neighborhood Association. “We have to hold these landlords accountable. No one deserves to live by this or in this.”

The two groups have assembled a photographic record of the properties, thus serving notice to Youngstown City Hall that residents are no longer willing to remain silent and let the wheels of government grind slowly.

Police Chief Jimmy Hughes and Ray DeCarlo of Youngstown zoning enforcement attended the meeting and agreed to help the organization to deal with problem landlords.

City government has the power of law enforcement and can aggressively go after landlords who seem to think that because it’s the city, nothing will happen to them.

It is that kind of attitude that caused the lead poisoning problem in the city and what is causing older neighborhoods to deteriorate even further.

Properties used as dumping sites, or those left vacant and unattended become breeding grounds for mosquitoes, rats and human vermin, the drug dealers.

The one landlord singled out during Thursday night’s meeting should be on the radar screen in City Hall.