Attorney general should extend successful demolition program

By any measure, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine’s unusual housing demolition program has been a great success. Why unusual? Because the revitalization of decaying neighborhoods isn’t in the job description of the state’s chief lawyer. But when DeWine launched the $75 million statewide program in 2012, he talked about the need to tear down dilapidated structures, which not only are an eyesore, but are havens for criminals.

As the city of Youngstown’s experience with crime clearly demonstrates, there is a correlation between the number of decaying homes and the level of illegal drug activity. Drug gangs have been waging wars in the inner city and are responsible for the consistently high homicide rate. Law-abiding residents are virtual prisoners in their homes.

Every administration in recent memory has made housing demolition a priority because blight has a tendency to spread if left unattended. As a result, once-stable neighborhoods have been showing signs of decay.

Thus, when the attorney general announced that he would use some of the money from his share of a mortgage servicing settlement brokered by the U.S. Department of Justice to create the Moving Ohio Forward program, there was immediate state-wide interest — due to the large number of vacant, abandoned and blighted houses. The bursting of the housing bubble exacerbated the problem, with fore- closures skyrocketing.

The timing of DeWine’s program could not have been better. Youngstown, Warren and other older cities, in particular, had been grappling with the problem of insufficient funds for years.

The money committed by DeWine resulted in 14,608 structures being torn down between 2012 to 2014. That’s 14,608 more than would have been targeted without the $75 million.

In Mahoning County, which received $1.5 million, 308 homes were demolished; in Trumbull, with $1.4 million, 374 homes were leveled; in Columbiana County, 72 homes were demolished with the $556,000 from the state.

Given those numbers, last week’s announcement by Attorney General DeWine that the Moving Ohio Forward program had been completed certainly was a bitter pill for residents in blighted communities to swallow.

“Clearing foreclosure-ravaged neighborhoods of abandoned structures generally improves values and sparks community rejuvenation,” DeWine said. He noted that the mortgage crisis had “upended tens of thousands of lives across the country and disrupted dozens of Ohio towns and neighborhoods.”

Property values restored

And he added, “By tearing down blighted properties through our program, we helped Ohio communities restore property values and regenerate economic-development potential and ensure that citizens and families have a safe place to live.”

DeWine is absolutely right about the positive outcome of his program, which is why we urge him to have a second phase.

We are well aware that Gov. John Kasich is keeping a tight rein on spending and wants to make sure that the state gets the biggest bang for its buck.

But given the $1.5 billion in Ohio’s rainy day fund, the governor should consider funneling $75 million to the attorney general for Phase II of Moving Ohio Forward. With the everything in place, including the level of funding for each of the 88 counties, the administrative costs would be miniscule. Most of the money would go toward the demolition of dilapidated structures in struggling neighborhoods.

We are confident that DeWine would be willing to continue the program if he had the money. Gov. Kasich just has to loosen the purse-strings a little.