WOSU is reporting on the feasibility of policy ideas being floated by the three candidates for Columbus City Council at recent candidates forums. The second story is on Tiara Ross' proposal for more resources to help seniors address code violations.
Columbus City Council candidate Tiara Ross says seniors should be able to age in place with dignity and the city should be more lenient with code enforcement violations to help them.
Each of the three Columbus City Council candidates for the District 7 seat are bringing new policy ideas to the campaign trail. Ross' proposal to provide more resources to seniors facing code violations could revive a recent casualty of budget cuts. She said the city needs to do a better job of supporting seniors in general, but especially as the general population continues to age.
"Supporting our seniors is a real opportunity, and I don't know that the city right now is doing a great job of supporting our seniors in many ways," Ross said.
Ross is an assistant city attorney with the Columbus City Attorney Property Action Team. She is in a three-way race that includes former Near East Side Commission Chair Kate Curry Da Souza and immigration attorney Jesse Vogel.
The primary is on May 6 and will narrow the race to two candidates who will face off in November.
Ross proposed this idea in response to a question at a Franklin County Democratic Party candidate forum on March 19 at Goodale Park.
"(The city) was faced with seniors that were coming before the environmental court with code violations that they did not have the ability to fix. It could have been a financial barrier, it could have been a physical barrier and we created an app and managed that docket... so that we can help our seniors to age in place and with dignity," Ross said.
Ross was referring to the city's owner-occupied initiative and its home repair program in partnership with the Columbus Next Generation Corporation.
Ross told WOSU on Tuesday the $1.2 million program the city used to help seniors address code violations was a casualty of what city council has called a "tight" budget year. Due to the sunsetting of federal funds from COVID-19, the city was forced to make tough decisions on what programs to keep or cut.
Through her position with the city, Ross works on a specialty court docket for these cases that helps an average of 50 people address their code violations.
Ross said the program should be restarted and should get even more funding. She said there's a lot more the city can do to help seniors who struggle to maintain their homes.
"Moving the resources that we have, that we have been allocated to the owner-occupied initiative upstream is really how you get at getting to some of the root causes of why we would see our seniors in the environmental court," Ross said.
Ross said this is an example of how the city should be more proactive in addressing a myriad of issues beyond just this one.
"We're always reactionary. Oftentimes once they get to the city attorney's office and then to the environmental court, we are dealing with very significant issues, that, quite frankly, could have been and should have been handled on the front end," Ross said.
Ross said addressing this issue could also include fighting back against what she called "predatory purchasers," such as wholesale buyers, who often are targeting seniors and low-income homeowners who have these code violations.
Tracy Taylor, with the Columbus Next Generation Corporation, told WOSU their partnership with the city helps seniors fix a lot of things that may go wrong in their homes.
"Plumbing repairs, heating boilers only last about 15 to 20 years, you know, so a lot of the houses that we do repairs on are more than 40 years old. So the time limits on roofs and water tanks and HVAC systems have expired," Taylor said.
Taylor said since the city's federal funds have run out, they plan to seek out other funds to help them keep going. She said they have a little over $300,000 left at the moment.
Taylor also said last year their organization serviced more than 30 homes, but she said hundreds of seniors need help every year.
She added that Columbus is not exempt from having to take care of seniors, especially with the housing crisis adding pressures to the population as well.
Tony Celebrezze, Columbus' building and zoning deputy director, said these complaints usually happen because a neighbor notices that a house is not being maintained and are often submitted through the 311 system.
Celebrezze said the city tries to focus on getting homes into compliance with code, rather than issuing fees or fines.
"I'd rather get compliance than anything else," Celebrezze said.
Ross agreed that compliance should always be the goal of the city, with taking people to court and fining them as a later step if an issue goes unaddressed.
Celebrezze said along with the owner-occupied initiative, city code officials will already often work with elderly homeowners to get repairs done. He said this includes contacting family members that may be able to help mow the lawn or pay for a repair.
"If we can involve the family on a broader scale, then solutions tend to appear. Even if the individual doesn't think calling their kids is gonna help, we try to get them to go ahead and reach out to them and get the kids involved, because you don't know what the answer is gonna be or what the thoughts are gonna be from them until you ask them," Celebrezze said.
Celebrezze said the program does have a marked effect on helping people get their homes up to code.
