Meeting summary:

  • A portion of the City West housing development (Laurel Homes 2 and 5) will be up for sale. Residents of the West End community spoke against the proposed sale during public comment.
  • About 6,800 families remain on the wait list for public housing units. One-bedrooms are most sought-after, and vacancy is low across all unit types.

Documenter’s follow-up question:

  • What plans, if any, does CMHA have to relocate residents if they are displaced by the sale? What about the deed mentioned during public comment that kept housing affordable? Will that be honored if/when the property is sold?
  • Does CMHA have plans to add more housing considering the high number of families on the waitlist?
     

Notes

Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) Board Chair William Myles called the meeting to order at 6 p.m. Following members were present:

  • William Myles, board chair
  • Mayme Mitchell, vice chair
  • Edward O’Donnell, member
  • Lann Field, board member
  • Teri Spears, board member
  • Bernadette Watson, board member (absent)
  • Thomas Weidman, board member (absent)

The chair determined a quorum was met and proceeded to the agenda.

Agenda items

Board members approved minutes from meetings/public comment portions on Aug. 19 and Dec. 16, with no corrections.

The board approved all agenda items. The full agenda can be found here.

Public comment

Each speaker allotted was two minutes for public comment.

Erica Black-Johnson

  • Black-Johnson introduced herself as a community organizer with Communities Unite for Action on PUFA. She attended the meeting with some fellow residents from City West, a 686-unit housing development on the West End. Of those units, 366 are public housing.
  • She was one of several residents who spoke out against the proposed sale of a portion of the mixed-income community. Community members formed a resident council to oppose the sale.
  • She said she wanted to file a public records request for the Housing & Urban Development (HUD) application for the units to be sold at Laurel Park Drive. 
  • She has collected signatures for a petition, which she has made available to the board.

Brian Garry

  • Garry expressed appreciation to CMHA for 100 years of providing affordable housing to people of Cincinnati, specifically City West, Lincoln Court and Laurel Homes in the West End.
  • He requested that there be no sale of the property at City West.
  • He cited a previously established deed that promised to keep properties affordable through 2035.
  • He also filed a public records request to determine what a $4 million debt was used for, what was the loan made for, and asked CMHA to make a request to the Cincinnati Development Fund to forgive the debt.

Tara Williams

  • Williams said she has had a mold problem in her apartment since October 2024. It has not been properly removed, she said. She spoke with the manager of the maintenance office and called the city.
  • She also explained another issue with the city. City maintenance workers came to her unit in November 2022 because she smelled gas and suspected a gas leak. They told her it wasn’t gas she was smelling. She has to keep her oven on because they do not have operating heat on the first floor.
  • They later came in to remove mold and she was supposed to be given a hotel room during that process. The manager of the City West office told her there was no reason for a hotel room. 
  • She later experienced health issues as a result of the mold, which she said was not properly removed. She spit up blood, developed breathing and coughing problems, and has itchy eyes as a result of the mold, she said.
  • She believes the mold is in the vents because the mold continues to blow through her apartment. She knows this because even after she cleans off her furniture, it gets dirty.
  • She also noted there are no lights in front of her house. Her granddaughter was killed in front of her house at Laurel Playground this month, and she is ready to leave those memories behind.
  • “I keep having dreams that I’m over there with her while she’s passing away. And I’m running, like, come on, Queen. Let’s go. And she’s not moving. That’s the type of dream I continue to have,” she said. “I’m asking you as the board to move me away from the area.”

Audit update report

  • An update was presented on the June 30, 2025, audit of CMHA.

Marquita Flowers, director of operations, provides asset management policy update

  • About 6,800 families are on the asset wait list for a public housing unit.
  • The most sought-after unit is a one-bedroom. People could be waiting a few years for that.
  • “We keep our occupancy high. We don’t have many vacancies,” she said.

City West neighborhood statements:

  • CMHA has spent countless staff hours to save this building from foreclosure, improve quality, and maintain affordability.
  • They have secured a qualified developer to improve the quality of units and ensure affordability continues.
  • “While we must sell Laurel 2 and 5 to preserve the neighborhood, this is for you the residents.”

The board chair added: “It seems that saving the larger development is more important than saving the disposition of these two buildings.”

The meeting adjourned at 7:14 p.m. 

If you believe anything in these notes is inaccurate, please email us at documenters@signalcincinnati.org with “Correction Request” in the subject line.

Find more Documenters’ notes here.