OTOC News

 

April 9 City Council Vote-City Council Passes Ordinance for Proactive Rental Inspections but Mayor Stothert Promises VETO

City Council voted 4-3 for a proactive rental inspection system that would start in 2020. They passed “Amendment C” proposed by Gray, Jerram, and Festeresen. This ordinance will require all properties to register, and begin a 10-year cycle of proactive inspections in 2020. Both Council President Ben Gray and Council Member Amy Melton thanked OTOC for your dedicated work on this issue. Thank you all who have shown up, called, shared posts, told your friends, stayed informed, and supported the listening, research, and action of OTOC on this years long journey to improving substandard housing in Omaha! But we’re not done yet…

Mayor Stothert is claiming she will veto the ordinance.

According to the Herald: “Stothert later said she preferred a proposal backed by the council’s three Republicans requiring city inspections of only properties with open or previous housing code violations.”

OWH Article: City passes and Mayor Stothert plans to veto her own ordinance

KETV Stroy: https://www.ketv.com/article/omaha-mayor-jean-stothert-says-she-will-veto-rental-property-registration-plan-approved-by-city-council/27092903

What the Mayor prefers

Mayor Stothert was referring a proposed ordinance  by Council member Harding. That ordinance required inspection only of about 1,100 properties where someone had filed a complaint, the city found a code violation and the owner was unwilling or unable to make repairs after an extended period of time.

Inspecting only these so called “problem properties” repeatedly is not proactive.   The Mayor’s favored approach:

• Would not have prevented the Yale Park debacle–only 2 complaints had been filed about Yale Park during the previous  3 years because vulnerable tenants do not complain. One of those 2 complaints came because an HVAC system blew up badly burning a child and City staff made the complaint. But those same city inspectors could not look at other units  nearby for the same problems because there were no complaints about other units.

• Will not identify the the savvy slum lord who repairs or covers up the code violations in one apartment, but can ignore the other 9 units in his building that have the same bad plumbing, leaking windows, pest infestations etc. The City will never inspect those units unless or until each of those other 9 tenants also complain.

It will take 5 votes to override Mayor Stothert’s veto, meaning it is possible that no ordinance will be adopted and Omaha’s renters will largely remain unprotected.

Contact Mayor Stothert and let her know she should not veto this ordinance: Mayor Stothart: hotline@cityofomaha.org or call 402-444-5555

April 2 City Council Meeting

The Omaha City Council opted to delay the scheduled vote on the amendments to the rental inspection ordinances for one week.

OTOC had requested an extension of the vote to give leaders more time to negotiate a potential compromise with the Apartment Association of Greater Omaha, that could be enacted by the City Council.

OTOC leaders are continuing to advocate for the inclusion of proactive inspections along with a mandatory registration in the final ordinance that is adopted.

Leaders continue to hold Yale Park as the litmus test for any proposed ordinance. If the any ordinance or its amendments would make the ordinance incapable of preventing another Yale Park, then leaders deem it insufficient.

Over the one week delay, OTOC leaders will utilize this time to continue to negotiate with the Apartment Association of Greater Omaha with the hopes of producing a meaningful compromise that is acceptable to both landlords and tenants.

Leaders also plan to continue to pressure council members to make sure that proactive inspections and a mandatory registration are included in the final ordinance. Leaders are asking that supporters aid in this push by contacting their council member and urging them to support proactive inspections.

Barring any other delays, the final vote is scheduled for the April 9th City Council meeting.

 

 

Monday March 25 & Tuesday March 26 with

Richard Rothstein

Author of New York Times Bestseller

The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of how Our Government Segregated America 

Events:

Monday March 25–sponsored by Creighton University

7:30 pm  Speaking at Harper Center at Creighton University

602 N. 20th – Free Parking Garage on Cass St.

RSVP at https://excellence.creighton.edu/ColorOfLaw

 

Tues. March 26–hosted by OTOC and Institute for Public Leadership 

Housing Workshop, Family Housing Advisory Services, 2401 Lake St.

1:30 pm:  Meet and Greet with pastors, community organizations, and those interested in housing

2:00  pm: Rothstein and local housing experts present, followed by discussion

Workshop on Intersection of Education and Housing, Learning Community Center, 1612 N. 24th St.

4:00 p.m.  Discussion on how quality education and housing are closely related and what we can do to improve both in Omaha.

Click Here to RSVP for events on Tuesday

Rothstein is a research associate of the Economic Policy Institute and a fellow at the Thurgood Marshall Institute of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. He is also a fellow of the Haas Institute at the University of California–Berkeley where he resides.

In his book, he “describes how federal, state, and local governments systematically imposed residential  segregation… The Color of Law forces us to face the  obligation to remedy our unconstitutional past.” (from  book description)

“Through meticulous research and powerful human  stories, Rothstein reveals a history of racism hiding in  plain sight and compels us to confront the consequences of the intentional, decades-long governmental policies that created a segregated America.”   —Sherrilyn A. Ifill, president of NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund

On Tuesday, OTOC leaders joined tenants, nonprofits and landlords to testify in support of proactive inspections in Omaha. In front of a packed house at City Hall, OTOC leaders Karen McElroy, Rosie Volkmer, Gloria Austerberry, Dennis Walsh, Susan Kuhlman and Paul Romero laid out a comprehensive narrative that covered the background information of the problem of substandard property in the city, the failure of the current complaint-based system and the extensive research in support of rental inspection programs.

OTOC’s testimony was supplemented by the lived experiences of tenants and case workers from local nonprofits, that displayed to members of the City Council the horrendous conditions that tenants have been forced to live under. This powerful combination of experience and data shed light on the problem as well as the effectiveness of a proactive solution. OTOC organized this coalition with community partners like Together, Habitat for Humanity, Family Housing Advisory Services, Restoring Dignity, Neighborhood Alliances and associations, landlords, tenants, and community advocates.

 

After nearly four hours of testimony on Tuesday, the City Council is likely to delay the vote on the proposed ordinances that was set for next week, to give the council more time to alter the ordinances as necessary. Thank you to everyone who testified and the many who came to the meeting to show your support for OTOC and Omaha’s renting families.

OTOC leaders urge supporters to continue to pressure their City Council members to support a system of landlord registration with proactive inspections so that we can ensure that all people have access to healthy homes in our city.

News coverage can be found on the Omaha World Herald, KMTV, KPTM, KETV and WOWT.

Read More . . .

City Council Ordinances

On March 12 at 2 pm at 1718 Farnam St, the City Council will have a hearing for three different ordinances pertaining to changes in how the city handles housing and code enforcement. If you are interested in testifying, please call us at 402-344-4401 or email at otocfornebraska@gmail.com for more information.

Summary of Ordinances

OWH Article about the Ordinances: Three proposals to regulate rentals head to the Omaha City Council. Here’s what each would do

OWH Article: Housing advocates push for more inspections of Omaha rental properties; landlords push back

Resources from OTOC

Read More . . .