Homicide of 14-year-old sparks discussion of housing issues

Notes

Meeting details & agenda

Board members present:

Committee Chair Scotty Johnson

Vice Chair Jan-Michele Kearney

Council Member Anna Albi

Council Member Jeff Cramerding

Council Member Ryan James

Council Member Mark Jeffreys

Council Member Evan Nolan

Council Member Meeka Owens

Meeting called to order at 9:31 a.m.

Public comment:

• Stephan Pryor said it is not fair that the city is only looking at projects that benefit white residents and neglecting projects that impact Black residents, highlighting that Black residents are struggling to find work. He also said drug issues are being ignored and exacerbated by the Cincinnati Police Department (CPD).
• Cassandra Muddiman, director of transplant and mechanical circulatory support at UC Health, thanked the city for supporting living organ donations.
• Dr. Madison Cuffy, chief of transplant surgery at UC Health, highlighted the importance of living organ donations and emphasized that paid time off is essential for city employees who choose to make an organ donation so they can have proper recovery time.
• Ashley Wells on Zoom commented that she was forced out of Cincinnati years ago due to feeling unsafe around her ex-husband, a Cincinnati firefighter, who owns AR-15s and is under a civil protection order. She is repeating her demand that the city take action to remove this specific firefighter.

Agenda Item #1: Update on Second Avenue litigation in Price Hill:

Presented by Mark Manning and Monica Windholz with law department, and Cincinnati Police Chief Adam Hennie

Note: Second Avenue Realty is a rental company based in Tampa, Florida

• Three presenters associated with CPD shared the Price Hill update presentation and answered questions from the board:
  • 3752 Warsaw Ave. in Price Hill is where a 14-year-old was shot and killed on Aug. 18. Since then, police have arrested a suspect. This is a single-family property, owned by Second Avenue.
  • In 2025, the city filed lawsuits against Second Avenue over safety concerns, and Second Avenue became subject to inspections. Out of its 100 properties in Cincinnati, Second Avenue  has had 60 inspected. 3752 Warsaw is one of the 40 properties yet to be inspected.
  • The community has made complaints about this property in the past because it appeared to be unsecure and there were people coming and going. The city did not have vacate orders for this property and could not charge anyone with trespassing. After the fatal shooting, there was an inspection, and the city then established orders to vacate due to unliveable conditions.
  • Committee Chair Scotty Johnson asked whether CPD was responding to community complaints. Manning said CPD was responding to complaints.  Johnson said CPD is aware of nuisance properties, but the wheels turn slowly to find resolutions.
  • Johnson asked whether Second Avenue is cooperating with the city. Manning said they are.
  • Vice Chair Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney asked whether there was an order for the house to be boarded up. Manning said it was not ordered to be boarded up until after the homicide occurred.
  • Kearney asked about the actions taken with this property before the homicide. Second Avenue had a pending inspection for this property, and CPD responded to community complaints, Manning said. Kearney said this property was a known nuisance and it was not boarded up fast enough, allowing people to go in and out of it.
  • Council Member Anna Albi asked about the first time the city received a specific complaint about this location. In response, Manning said, “What kicked off this series of events was a specific complaint that was made a week prior.”.
  • Albi asked about how long it takes for a community complaint to be resolved. Manning said  CPD responds as quickly as possible and that, in this instance, CPD responded to the complaint within days.
  • Albi asked what City Council could do to speed up the urgency of CPD’s responses to these matters, and Manning said  nothing came to mind. The city receives thousands of complaints, and the law department tries its best to respond appropriately in each circumstance.
  • Council Member Jeff Cramerding asked who is in charge of community complaints at CPD. Manning said it depends on the issue. Cramerding said the quality-of-life issues are very high on the number of complaints they receive and getting the board to meet and speak with the correct people can be difficult.
  • Council Member Evan Nolan asked whether Second Avenue had registered this property. Presenter Monica Windholz said Second Avenue had applied for inspection but the inspection had not yet been scheduled. Nolan asked about the timeline for scheduling inspections, and Manning deferred the question to Second Avenue. Nolan said the property registered, and waited for a laundry list of things wrong after the inspection instead of being compliant upon registration. Nolan asked whether the property owner pays for the inspections, and Manning said yes.
  • Council Member Meeka Owens said the photos in the presentation show that this property is not conducive for quality of life and asked who is responsible for improving the property. Manning deferred the question to Second Avenue but said if the property owner does not comply, they get referred to law enforcement.
  • Owens asked whether the property has 30 days to become compliant after inspection. Manning said Second Avenue began responding to community complaints faster than that.
  • Council Member Mark Jeffreys said a different approach is needed regarding nuisance properties – instead of addressing properties one by one, it might be possible to address issues block by block. Jeffreys asked what, of the 100 properties owned by Second Avenue in the city, the major issues are and what number of properties experience these large-scale issues. Manning said they will answer this question privately.
  • Jeffreys said he’d never heard of Second Avenue but started researching the company during the meeting and discovered a D rating on BBB. He said Second Avenue clearly has repeat violations.
  • James said  the city needs to prevent things like this from happening again.
  • Albi asked about any other calls to CPD prior to the main complaint. Police Chief Adam Hennie replied that at least one other call occurred before the main complaint.
  • Albi requested information on the ways that CPD works with Building & Inspection (B&I). Hennie said that when they receive complaints, they distribute them to the neighborhood liaison and from there they look at a checklist and information and then decide the course of action that should be taken.
  • Kearney asked the presenters to add addresses to Second Avenue properties not in compliance when CPD makes their future private report.

Second Avenue Cincinnati field agent, identified as Mr. Stewart, joined the forum and answered questions from the board.

• Stewart said Second Avenue is working closely with B&I and CPD on their property issues and has completed inspections for about 60 properties, which are all occupied.
• Stewart asked to return to future quality-of-life meetings if that would be helpful.
• Johnson asked whether the pictures throughout the presentation are all from 3752 Warsaw Ave., and Stewart confirmed.
• Stewart said he property was occupied with a tenant until May, then they moved out. Second Avenue immediately cleaned up, but then trespassers came soon after, he said.
• Stewart said that, going forward, Second Avenue plans to work with CPD instead of the courts to achieve quicker results.
• Johnson asked about the ways CPD and Second Avenue have been collaborating. Manning said Second Avenue has been working hand in hand with CPD but does not agree with everything they are doing and saying.
• Kearney asked Stewart if he is the one responsible for inspecting Cincinnati properties. Stewart confirmed this and added that he meets with B&I inspectors, where they receive a list of things to fix. Stewart typically gets through two to three properties per day. This is a city initiative, not one that Stewart took upon himself.
• Kearney asked about the timeline of the arrival of the trespassers at 3752 Warsaw, and Stewart answered that the middle of June was the first time people trespassed (a couple weeks after it was listed), and then they were evicted, and then trespassers came again. and By August they had destroyed the place, and that’s when the homicide happened, he said.
• Kearney asked about the number of violations Second Avenue has altogether on their Cincinnati properties. Stewart said of the 60 out of 100 properties that have been inspected, he doesn’t know the exact number that have code violations. Manning said he will need to research the number and get back to them.
• Kearney asked how often Stewart went by the property. Stewart said that he drove by almost daily and was aware that there were people in there but had to use the courts to get them out.
• Albi expressed appreciation for Second Avenue’s willingness to attend the meeting and asked how long Second Avenue has owned and operated their 100 properties. Both Stewart and Manning stated that Second Avenue has owned Cincinnati properties for the three years that Stewart has been the field agent.
• Albi expressed concern that it shouldn’t take the death of a 14-year-old to address property violations. Albi asked why Stewart drove past the property every day and never got the trash picked up and said residents deserve better.
• Jeffreys recalled that 50% of Second Avenue properties failed inspection while HUD says a normal failure rate is about 18% for a rental property. He questioned why Second Avenue’s failure rate is so much worse than what HUD says it should be. Stewart answered that some of the failed inspections are minor things like peeling paint. Jeffreys said that Second Avenue is failing and requested Second Avenue representatives to return to a future meeting with proactive plans to improve their properties.
• James expressed frustration and embarrassment for this to happen in the city. He asked whether the Second Avenue representatives find that the issues are inexcusable or whether they are just part of the job. Stewart said that the graffiti happened after the homicide but that they couldn’t go onto the property because it wasn’t safe. Stewart added that Second Avenue paid fines and said that there was nothing they could do about the problems. James expresses interest in working together with Second Avenue to solve the problems.
• Cramerding asked about eviction processes. Ohio law regarding the status of tenants’ guests that are causing problems has changed. The city solicitor said that occupancy rights, determining who is a squatter and who is not is challenging and that determining the identities of unknown occupants of the property is hard.
• Owens asked whether the property still looks like the photographs in the presentation. Stewart said that the interior and exterior have been cleaned out and that they have been trying to keep up with the graffiti but that they do not feel safe going on the property. Stewart added that it is now boarded up but cannot say whether the property still looks like the pictures today.
• Kearney asked Manning about squatters’ rights. 
• Johnson said they do everything they can to make sure Cincinnati has safe and liveable conditions and is passionate about this topic.
• Kearney requested that Second Avenue reach out to the family that is grieving to show compassion.

Agenda Item #2: Motion to provide paid leave policy for city employees who participate in live organ donations

• Owens emphasized the importance of implementing a paid leave policy after live organ donation for all 6,000 city employees. Kearney stated that they looked at other cities’ paid leave policies for live organ donations in order to construct Cincinnati’s policy. Kearney said that Dr. Madison Cuffy and his team gave three proposals and the city moved forward with the first policy. Kearney said organs from live donors can function inside recipients for over 15 years.
• Johnson heard no objection and passed the motion.

Johnson closed the meeting with remarks that City Council will make sure to do their part for everyone in Cincinnati to have a good quality of life. He thanked Mark Jeffreys for his investigative skills and for calling out the issues with Second Avenue rental company.

The meeting adjourned at 10:46 a.m. 

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