Council members spar over housing crisis

The meeting was held in council chambers Room 300 at City Hall, 801 Plum St. Mayor Aftab Pureval began with the citizens’ forum, then officially called the meeting to order at 2:12 p.m.

Council Members in Attendance:

• Mayor Aftab Pureval
• Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney
• Council Member Anna Albi
• Council Member Jeff Cramerding
• Council Member Mark Jeffreys
• Council Member Scotty Johnson
• President Pro Tem Victoria Parks
• Council Member Meeka Owens
• Council Member Evan Nolan
• Council Member Seth Walsh
• City Manager Sheryl M. M. Long

Citizens’ forum comments:

Bishop Sonny James spoke about interest in council members joining the “Come Together Rally.” Bishop James said this rally is not about protest, and “no longer focusing on red or blue: It is about us showing the nation that we can come together.”

Carol Womeldorf shared statistics regarding the millions of dollars spent due to homicide and gun violence in Cincinnati. She is requesting a $1 million donation for five years to the Advance Peace program in Cincinnati to combat these issues.

“The Advance Peace Cincinnati program can reduce cyclical and retaliatory gun violence by 20% in two years,” Womeldorf said. “The current proposal to spend $1 million to help people to their cars does not heal our communities … It is time for a new proactive strategy. Advance Peace is that strategy”.

Jennifer McNay a resident of Cincinnati for the past 10 years – including three years living across from City Hall –  voiced concerns  about housing repairs and Cincinnati housing inspection violations. She listed mold, ceilings falling through, pest control, elevator issues and residents going without air conditioning or heat as recurring problems.

“So many of us are in unsafe living conditions, and nothing is being done about it,” she said.

Following McNay’s remarks, Mayor Pureval asked her to share her contact information with council staff so her concerns can be further addressed.

Cedric Shields said he was told last year that bids were going out for his grandmother’s vacant house in North Fairmount. He was told he needed to pay $18,000 to prevent demolition. 

The house had been vacant for five years and was in his incarcerated nephew’s name. He said he had the house signed over to himself, accrued a vacant building maintenance license, and paid $18,000. 

He was told he has to pay fees on the house before he could move in and could not receive his $18,000 back until he makes the house “livable,” despite paperwork saying otherwise. 

He said he was told by city staff that he cannot receive his money back at all.. He has since received his money back and is asking for council to address the staff and provide more factual insight “for the little people” regarding such matters.

Pureval asked Shields  to share his contact information with a council staff member.

Layna Zarue addressed concerns regarding Israel, genocide and anti-Zionism. She stated: “I am not here to appeal to this council’s conscience because I do not believe you have one.” Zarue asked for council members to  “stop legitimizing Zionism.”

Bettina Ernst spoke about concerns for Palestinians: ”Israel continues to systematically target civilians, journalists, children and those in need of aid.”

Daniel (Danny) Burage, executive director of the Metropolitan Area Religious Coalition Cincinnati (MARCC), expressed appreciation for council’s interactions with MARCC and its members thus far. 

Burage specifically wanted to address racial justice in the city: “Part of racial justice is social justice and part of social justice is making sure we have a safe city,” he said. 

In response to the news of a proposal for a $4 million investment in public safety, Burage  asked council to consider working with members of “civil society of subject matter experts” such as MARCC for insight on these matters. 

“We think that the safety of our communities is based on communities having more control,” Burage said. He asked council to also consider investing in the Advance Peace program.

Stephan Pryor gave Hyde Park kudos for their efforts convincing council to repeal previously approved zoning. He saidhe is running for City Council, and he believes lobbyists should be removed from zoning committees.

Pryor questioned Mark Jefferys about the “tax task force” and why Jefferys mentioned it, but no work has been done from Pryor’s perspective. He  said Council Member Jeff Cramerding should be fired for giving $2 million to police: “That is too much money.”

Meeting Agenda Items Discussed 

Item 40: ORDINANCE submitted by Sheryl M. M. Long, City Manager, on 8/6/2025, DEDICATING, ACCEPTING, AND CONFIRMING the dedication to public use of an approximately 0.6991-acre tract of real property as a portion of North Bend Road, Colerain Avenue, and Shepherd Road, public rights-of-way in the Mount Airy neighborhood of Cincinnati.

All in favor of passing.

Item 41: ORDINANCE (EMERGENCY) submitted by Sheryl M. M. Long, City Manager, on 8/6/2025, AUTHORIZING the scheduling of two public hearings to consider approving the Plan of Operation and Governance for the Southeast Ohio Public Energy Council and enabling the City to act jointly with other municipalities, townships, counties, and other political subdivisions to maximize the potential benefits of electricity procurement through group purchasing efforts in a retail electric aggregation program.

Comments:

Council Member Meeka Owens said that due to the success of the residential aggregation program, commercial partners can follow suit and see reduction in rates over time: “This is because of critical work of the Office of Environment and Sustainability around building performance standards and energy benchmarking.”

All in favor of passing.

Item 42: ORDINANCE (EMERGENCY), submitted by Vice Mayor Kearney, from Emily Smart Woerner, City Solicitor, AUTHORIZING the transfer of and return to source of $500,000 from various capital or permanent improvement program project accounts to close out or decrease certain existing capital or permanent improvement program project accounts, according to Schedule A of the attached Schedule of Transfer; AUTHORIZING the transfer and appropriation of $250,000 from the unappropriated surplus of Income Tax Permanent Improvement Fund 758 to a certain capital improvement program project account to provide resources for a certain capital improvement program project account, according to Schedule B of the attached Schedule of Transfer;

AUTHORIZING the transfer and appropriation of $250,000 from the unappropriated surplus of the General Fund to General Fund Department of Community and Economic Development non-personnel operating budget account no. 050x164x7400 to provide resources for the Grow Avondale Businesses Initiative public-private partnership to support Avondale Town Center; and DECLARING expenditures from General Fund Department of Community and Economic Development non-personnel operating budget account no. 050x164x7400 for the Grow Avondale Businesses Initiative public-private partnership to be for a public purpose.

Comments:

Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney said the Avondale Development Corp., Local Initiative Support Corp. (LISC), Urban League, and Council Member Scotty Johnson all came together to help some of the struggling businesses in the Avondale Town Center.

The group focused on business expansion and growth, a new business readiness accelerator, and wraparound technical assistance. Kearney said, “This is something that needs to be replicated in other neighborhoods – Price Hill especially.”

All in favor of passing.

Item 43: ORDINANCE (EMERGENCY), submitted by Sheryl M. M. Long, City Manager, on 9/2/2025, ESTABLISHING new capital improvement program project account no. 980x232x262317, “HAM Cincinnati Crossings Grant PID 121898,” to provide resources for safety improvements at the following seven locations: the Calhoun St. and Clifton Ave. intersection; the crossing on Calhoun St. at address 265; the Calhoun St. and Ohio Ave. intersection; the McMillan St. and Wheeler St. intersection; the McMillan St. and Moerlein Ave. intersection; the McMillan St. and Scioto Ln. intersection; and the Madison Rd. and Anderson Pl. intersection; AUTHORIZING the City Manager to apply for, accept, and appropriate an Ohio Department of Transportation (“ODOT”) Highway Safety Improvement Program (“HSIP”) grant of up to $1,552,500 to the newly established capital improvement program project account no. 980x232x262317, “HAM Cincinnati Crossings Grant PID 121898”;

AUTHORIZING the Director of Finance to deposit the grant resources into capital improvement program project account no. 980x232x262317, “HAM

Cincinnati Crossings Grant PID 121898″; AUTHORIZING the City Manager to enter into a Local Public Agency agreement with ODOT to complete the PID 121898 project and AUTHORIZING the City Manager to do all things necessary to cooperate with the Director of ODOT to complete the PID 121898 project.

Comments:

Council Member Albi commended ODOT and the council for the work being done to make Cincinnati a “more walkable and accessible city.”

All in favor of passing.

Item 44 – ORDINANCE (EMERGENCY), submitted by Sheryl M. M. Long, City Manager, on 9/2/2025, ESTABLISHING new capital improvement program project account no. 980x232x262319, “Reading and Summit Safety Grant PID 119753,” to make improvements and enhance pedestrian safety at the intersection of Reading Road and Summit Road in the Roselawn neighborhood (the “PID 119753 project); AUTHORIZING the City Manager to accept and appropriate a Highway Safety Improvement Program Systemic Safety grant awarded by the Ohio Department of Transportation (“ODOT”) of up to $1,080,000 to newly established capital improvement program project account no. 980x232x262319, “Reading and Summit Safety Grant PID 119753”;

AUTHORIZING the Director of Finance to deposit the grant resources into new capital improvement program project account no. 980x232x262319, “Reading and Summit Safety Grant PID 119753”; and AUTHORIZING the City Manager to do all things necessary to cooperate with the Director of ODOT to complete the PID 119753 project.

All in favor of passing.

Item 45: ORDINANCE (EMERGENCY), submitted by Sheryl M. M. Long, City Manager, on 9/2/2025, AUTHORIZING the City Manager to apply for, accept, and appropriate a grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency, FY 2025 Port Security Grant Program (ALN

97.056) of up to $102,500, consisting of $35,000 to support the Cincinnati Police Department’s Port of Cincinnati Ohio River Surveillance Camera Network, and up to $67,500 to support the Cincinnati Fire Department’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal Robot for marine vessels; and AUTHORIZING the Director of Finance to deposit the grant funds for the Police Department into Law Enforcement Grant Fund revenue account no. 368×8553, project account no. 25PORT, and the grant funds for the Fire Department into Fire Grant Fund revenue account no. 472×8542.

All in favor of passing.

Item 46: ORDINANCE (EMERGENCY), submitted by Sheryl M. M. Long, City Manager, on 9/2/2025, AUTHORIZING the payment of $396,325.78 from the Cincinnati Police Department General Fund non-personnel operating budget account no. 050x226x3500x7299 as a moral obligation to Hamilton County for outstanding charges related to the processing of warrants in FY 2025.

All in favor of passing.

Item 47: ORDINANCE (EMERGENCY) submitted by Sheryl M. M. Long, City Manager, on 9/2/2025, AUTHORIZING a payment of $17,350 from County Law

Enforcement Applied Regionally (CLEAR) Fund non-personnel operating budget account no. 457x093x7100x7417 to the Ohio State Highway Patrol for access to the Law Enforcement Automated Data System (LEADS) statewide criminal records database for over fifty Hamilton County law enforcement agencies and sub-agencies for the period of June 1, 2021, through June 30, 2021, pursuant to the attached then and now certificate from the Director of

Finance.

 All in favor of passing.

Item 48: ORDINANCE (EMERGENCY), submitted by Mayor Aftab Pureval, Vice Mayor Kearney, President Pro Tem Parks and Council Members Albi, Cramerding, Jeffreys, Johnson, Nolan, Owens and Walsh from Emily Smart Woerner, City Solicitor, REPEALING Ordinance No. 97-2025, passed by Council on April 23 2025, which amended the official zoning map of the City of Cincinnati to rezone the real property located at 2719 Erie Avenue in the Hyde Park neighborhood from the CN-P-B, “Commercial Neighborhood Pedestrian-Neighborhood Business District,” zoning district to Planned Development District No. 103.

Comments:

=Pureval expressed his understanding of the frustration and tension that arose from the Hyde Park housing project: “Folks are working hard  to get back to the way things were before, when the way things were before was still in a housing crisis, still not building enough housing.”

According to the mayor, Cincinnati is not producing enough housing for the city’s growing population. All communities are in need, both wealthy and poor. Pureval would like to get to a point where “the previous months never happen again.” 

“How do we make it easier to build the housing that is critical for not just future residents, but current residents who struggle to pay rent and property taxes?” he said., adding that “40,000 units cannot come from one neighborhood.”

Kearney said she doesn’t see this as an end. She sees it as getting ready for a next chapter. Community and developers can reach a compromise while maintaining the dignity and vision that they have for the community.Developers and community are not enemies, she added.

Council Member Evan Nolan said neighbors have told him they are in favor of development and an increase in housing, saying Hyde Park, as he understands it, “has not maintained the status quo.”  

“ “As of today, we are back at square one. We are stuck in the status quo.”

Council Member Scotty Johnson said he is “baffled.”He said ”everybody can’t afford $6,000 to $7,000 a month for rent,” and “we need to stop acting like everybody can. We need to stop acting like this development in Hyde Park would have assisted the housing crisis in Cincinnati.”

Council Member Mark Jeffreys said council members should adjust how they think about community engagement. It is necessary to ensure  these projects are “predictable,” and expectations of the community and developers are made known. 

effreys stated that in the last year-and-a-half,  the city has eliminated over 487 units, built close to 2,000, and are adding about 2,000 people to the Cincinnati population per year.

“The result is super clear – housing prices going through the roof,” Jeffreys said . By next year, housing in Cincinnati will be more expensive than in Austin, Texas, and “we have to get ahead of this.” 

Nolan said there  have been objections to building housing in neighborhoods where real estate is naturally expensive. There are also objections to building affordable housing in neighborhoods where housing is affordable. 

Nolan said there is a “need and demand for housing across the pricing spectrum.” According to Nolan, “if we only build affordable units, the units that are naturally affordable become less affordable.”

All in favor of passing.

Item 50: ORDINANCE (B VERSION) (EMERGENCY) submitted by Sheryl M. M. Long

City Manager, on 9/3/2025, MODIFYING the provisions of Chapter 307,

“Classified Compensation Schedules,” of the Cincinnati Municipal Code by

ORDAINING new Section 279 of Division 1 to establish the classification title and salary range schedule for the new employment classification of Dietetic Technician.

All in favor of passing.

Item 51: ORDINANCE (B VERSION) (EMERGENCY) submitted by Sheryl M. M. Long,

City Manager, on 9/3/2025, MODIFYING the provisions of Chapter 307,

“Classified Compensation Schedules,” of the Cincinnati Municipal Code by

ORDAINING new Sections 478 and 479 to establish the classification titles and salary range schedules for the new employment classifications of Utilities Construction Inspector 1 and Utilities Construction Inspector 2.

All in favor of passing.

Item 52: ORDINANCE (B VERSION) (EMERGENCY) submitted by Sheryl M. M. Long, City Manager, on 9/3/2025, MODIFYING the provisions of Chapter 307, “Classified Compensation Schedules,” of the Cincinnati

Municipal Code by ORDAINING new Section 766 of Division 1 to establish the classification title and salary range schedule for the new employment classification of Water Works Maintenance Worker 2.

All in favor of passing.

Announcements

Kearney: Build Cincy conference will take place Sept. 18 – 19. It is free and open to everyone. The purpose is to promote women and people of color getting into the development space. Register at buildcincy.org 

Jeffreys:  Chief of Staff Declan Tom is moving on from position. Zoe Brazell is filling the role. 

Council Member Anna Albi: Joshua Pine is moving on from his role as policy director to become the director of the innovation team for Bloomberg’s American Sustainable Cities program. Cincinnati was selected as one of 25 participating cities.

Nolan: Gus Ricksecker is moving on to a position with Homebase. Elijah Hyman from President Pro Tem Victoria Parks’ office will fill the role.

Parks: Welcomes Trinity Brown to her team.

Owens: Social Services Day will take place on Sept. 13 at the Community Action Agency from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.. The event will focus on health matters, including CPR, blood pressure, fire safety and youth employment. Walsh Construction will be in attendance to discuss information regarding the Brent Spence Bridge.

Council Member Seth Walsh: Reagan Oliver recently joined his team 

Cramerding: Former Cincinnati Mayor Aaron Bortz passed away.

The meeting adjourned at 3 p.m.

These notes can be found on www.Documenters.org.

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