I call to order the committee meeting of the housing community development and public health committee for Thursday.

May twenty eighth, thank you.

Twenty twenty-six.

Clerk, please call the roll.

Jones here.

Gaddis.

Kramer here.

Martinez.

McPherson.

Melden.

Williams here.

For present.

Okay.

So we are here to get an update on our lead safe ordinance, and I believe that we're talking about rental registry as well.

Get an update of what that's going, how that's going and vacant properties.

So we have Jim Monar and Monica Smith.

Also keep in mind we have a five o'clock, so we won't take that much time, but just keep that deadline in mind.

All right, and then I'll hand it over to you all.

Good afternoon, Council.

Thank you so much for having me this afternoon.

I am Monica Smith, the lead safe coordinator, and I'm going to provide you with a lead safe ordinance update.

So first I want to start with a program overview.

Uh the lead ordinance states that if you are a property owner of a residential rental unit, one to four units built prior to nineteen seventy-eight, you are required to obtain a lead safe certificate.

So the first thing I'm gonna do is I'm going to provide you with an overview of phase one.

Phase one, it consists of 17 census tracks.

There are an estimated 4,800 rental properties in phase one.

The deadline date, which recently passed, was December 31st of 2025 for phase one.

There are currently 954 active certificates in phase one.

We sent out reminder letters approximately six months prior to that deadline date.

We sent out a total of 400, 4,000, excuse me, 4,465 reminder letters.

And then three months after that deadline date, we sent out 3,736 notice of violation letters for those owners who had not yet complied.

Next, phase two overview.

In phase two, there are 12 census tracts.

That deadline date is approaching.

It is June 30 of 2026.

There are an estimated 2,800 rental units in phase two.

We currently have 93 active certificate certificates in that phase.

We sent out 2,634 reminder letters to property owners for phase two.

Next up, we have phase three.

We're currently in phase three.

There are 12 census tracks in phase three.

The deadline date is December 31st of 2026.

There are 133 active certificates in phase three, an estimated 3,058 rental units.

We sent out 2,958 reminder letters.

Those letters should actually be reaching their destination over the next couple days.

And here I'm going to give you an overview of all of the phases.

So in total, there are 120 census tracks.

That is there's eight compliance deadlines, with the last compliance deadline being June 30 of 2029.

The compliance deadlines are in six months increments, so it's always going to be June 30 or December 31st.

We sent out a total of 10,057 reminder letters, a total of 3,736 notice of violation letters, and currently we have 4,124 active lead safe certificates.

As far as the number, if I were to refer back to phase one, I think I mentioned that there were 957 active certificates, while there are approximately 4,800 rental properties in that area.

So the two things I want you to keep in mind is that over the past couple months, approximately 1,500 lead-safe certificates expired, meaning that those property owners had complied five years ago, but their expiration date had approached, and so now they need to reapply.

That's the first thing to consider.

Second thing I want you to consider is that we were in the courts over the course of two and a half, three years.

And so I think what that did is it created some confusion amongst property owners as to whether or not the lead ordinance is still in existence, whether or not they need to comply, when are those deadline dates, and how do they go about doing that?

And so that's one of the things that we have been working diligently on is making sure that we are communicating with property owners, with tenants, with the inspectors regularly so that they have a better understanding of the program, of what the requirements are and of their compliance date.

That way they know that okay, this this is what I need to do by such and such date.

Next, I'm gonna talk to you a little about the importance of quality control and inspector oversight.

So, being that I mentioned the back and forth with the court and and how for some people it caused some confusion.

One of the things we want to do is make sure that we are maintaining integrity as well as credibility with this program.

And so, with that, every application that we receive, the city undergoes uh quality assurance review to make sure that it meets the requirements as stated by the Ohio Department of Health as well as the City of Toledo's ordinance.

In addition to the documentation review, we're also conducting site visits to verify that the conditions that are reported on the clearance reports are accurate.

Through the site visits, we've identified instances where there were inaccuracies in reporting, and so what that allowed us to do is it allowed us, it allowed us to go back in, review some of our internal processes so that we know okay, these are the things that we need to speak to the inspectors about, these are the things that we need to educate property owners about, and these are some of the processes that we need to put in place to ensure that those standards are being met.

We've also maintained ongoing communication with the inspectors just so that we can provide guidance, we can answer any questions and or concerns that they may have, and I think with that it it helps reinforce the program standards.

Next up, we have enforcement activity.

So this slide outlines what the city is currently doing in regards to enforcement and the steps that we take prior to referring anyone to housing court.

So this design, this is designed to educate, to communicate, and and to say that we want you to comply, right?

We don't want this to be just where we're we're with a heavy fist saying, hey, this is what you have to do.

We want to make sure that people have ample opportunity to comply, and so uh the first thing we do prior to referring to housing court is at least six months prior to the deadline date, we send out that reminder letter, right?

That that letter provides people with information so that they know where to go to hire an inspector.

What are the steps you have to do to your property to prepare your property, what you have to do to apply for your application, how you apply for your application, the cost associated.

It's full of information.

It's the Toledo Lead Safe website.

Uh, there's a lot of information there.

The next thing we do is approximately a month after the deadline date, that is when we send a notice of violation letter if we know that that property owner still has not complied, right?

And in sending that by law, we have to provide that property owner with 45 days, so they still have more time to comply, and then if we verify service, meaning that we've proved that okay, this person received this notice of violation letter, then we would refer them to housing court.

And so there's still ample time.

Um and I'll give you an example.

So currently we are in the enforcement stages of phase one.

Okay, so remember the deadline date for phase one was December 31st of 2025.

So last year, those reminder letters went out, those notice of violation letters went out.

Right now, we're actually in the process of verifying who has complied that was still on that non-compliant list, who has complied, we'll remove those individuals from the non compliant list, put them on the compliant list, but then we'll take a list at we'll take a look at the list of uh non-compliant uh property owners, and what we'll do is we will randomly select uh the first 200.

We're going to start with 200, but we're going to refer all of them to housing court at some point.

But what one of the things we have to consider is the capacity of the court as well as our internal capacity.

So we're going to be starting that process at the end of June, around June 18th, that's when we'll start referring individuals to Housing Court.

Next, I want to share some information about technology improvements.

So with this, this highlights some of the technology improvements that we have already implemented, as well as some that we are continuing to develop.

One of the things we have on the Toledo Lead Safe website is in an interactive map.

This map allows residents, landlords, anyone interested in finding out if a property is lead safe certified, they can go visit this website.

On the website, you simply punch in the address of the property in question, and it will then bring up information.

So it'll let you know yes, this property does have a lead safe certificate.

They received it on January 1 of 2025.

It is good through January 1 of 2030.

If it doesn't have one, then nothing will pop up for that person.

And so it's a it's a good tool for property owners to use so they can determine whether or not their property is due to be certified because it'll also give you that information.

It's a good tool for individuals who are in the process of purchasing properties.

If they want to find out, I wonder if they got this property lead safe certified, whether they are going to live in that property, or even if they're going to use it as an investment property and rent that property.

That's just one less thing that they would have to do.

And then it's also good for tenants.

People who are in the stage of looking for rental properties, they can double check to see is this is this property lead safe certified?

Let me get on this website and find out.

And so I think that's a really great tool.

The other thing is we've updated the Toledo Lead Safe website with a lot of educational resources.

We have FAQs on there, and so just about any question you can think, it's listed on there.

The questions that we've received, the one of the first things I do after I get a question that I have not gotten is I go to that website and update it.

Because if one person has that question, five people probably have that same question.

Lastly, the application process is also on the Toledo Lead Safe website.

We have worked really hard on the application process.

We want to make sure that it is super easy for people to use, and so we've really worked hard on that process.

The other thing we're doing is we have some technology improvements underway with the one that I'm really most excited about is gonna be the LED source lead safe portal implementation, and so what that will entail is there will be a dashboard that is outward facing, and so when you're applying for your lead safe certificate, you'll visit it's CityWorks, but you'll visit the website and you will be able to apply via CityWorks.

And so, what that does is it gives us it makes things a lot smoother for us in the background as well as for that applicant, right?

So, the first thing you would do if you were to get on the website to apply for your lead safe certificate, you would create an account, and so anytime you need to apply for a lead safe certificate, you would go into that same account.

That way, applicants they'll have an opportunity to download their certificate as many times as they want at no cost.

They'll also be able to fill out their personal information one time, and it'll always be there.

And so, like now, you have to go on, and every time you apply, you have to put your personal information in each time.

We recognize that that's frustrating for people, and so this will make it a lot easier for them.

This will also automate our workflow.

We use CityWorks currently to house the lead safe certificates.

And so now that we are going to be in CityWorks, the certificates will continue to be housed there, but we won't have to do double work, right?

So it's going to allow us to work much more efficiently and effectively.

So we're really excited about that.

Here I want to share some information about outreach and training.

So in 2024 and 2025, this is when we were still in the courts waiting on the Supreme Court justices to make a decision.

And so one of the things we spent the majority of our time on was focusing on outreach and training.

We knew that because we had been in the courts for such a long time, we didn't want to lose that momentum that we had built up.

And so we offered trainings in 2024 and 2025.

We were able to send 231 individuals through training.

Those were all led-related trainings.

We also led and participated in eight outreach events.

With those events, we were able to reach 1,350 people.

One of the things we did, and this was probably my favorite thing to do, is we were able to visit some Toledo public schools, elementary schools, and we got to talk to first graders.

Really, really interested and very, very smart.

And so what we did is we talked to them about the importance of a healthy home and a lead safe home.

We also provided them with some takeaways.

So they got some board books and you know, some pencils, some crayons, some coloring books, and that that was probably the highlight since I've been working for the city.

It was really really fun.

And then lastly, we launched a really robust marketing campaign for 2024 and 2025.

That campaign included billboards throughout the city.

We did radio ads, we did print ads, and then we also utilized social media.

That allowed us to make sure that we were still putting information out there about the ordinance so that people still knew this this is still a thing.

You're gonna have to comply, and we wanted to make sure that you know parents were having their children tested, that they were having their homes tested, and so I think that that was a really valuable piece over the course of those two years.

The good thing is moving forward, we now have the Toledo led resource center, and so moving forward, the resource center will take the lead as it relates to the outreach and the training for the Lead Safe program, and so what that does for me and my team is it gives us a chance to solely focus on the ordinance, which we're really, really excited about.

Next up, I'm gonna speak to some of the challenges and some of the lessons we've learned.

So one of the biggest challenges I think initially was public awareness and understanding, and I I know I've said it a few times this afternoon, but that was something that for me I recognized really early on, and so it was something that I felt like we we really needed to work on and increase the public awareness as it relates to lead, the lead ordinance, lead poisoning, uh lead safety.

So that required a significant investment in outreach, and what that allowed us to do was it allowed us to reduce the confusion and improve participation.

The other challenge is inspector capacity and consistency.

As I stated currently, there are 69 local lead inspectors listed on the website, which I think is a really good number.

Could the number be stronger?

Sure.

Do I think that 69 inspectors could handle what we have currently?

I do.

But again, we could we could always use more inspectors.

So we're constantly working on that.

The other thing is making sure that the inspectors are consistent in their inspections and their documentation and their reporting standards.

We want to make sure that they understand that they are required by law to follow what the Ohio Department of Health says, as well as the City of Toledo's ordinance.

And so that's something we've been working on.

We have a new person to our team, not new to the city, but new to our team.

She is our rehabilitation projects officer.

And so a lot of the work that she does is working with the inspectors to ensure that they are clear in regards to the expectations and in regards to what the city the city's led ordinance says as well as what Ohio Department of Health requires.

Next, the data and the system limitations.

So systems weren't designed for the LED program and the scale of the LED program.

And so as I mentioned earlier with technology improvements, that's one of the things we're working on.

Currently, a lot of the work we do is manual.

And so I think improving technology will be a huge, huge advantage for us moving forward.

And then lastly, of course, funding and resource constraints.

So first we want to continue strengthening program operations.

So we want to make sure that we are maintaining high standards of quality control as well as inspector oversight to ensure that the program is compliant with the ordinance and with the Ohio Department of Health.

We also want to continue to work towards enhancing our technology and our systems, expand the outreach and education.

So although the Toledo led ordinance, the I'm sorry, the Toledo-led Resource Center will take the lead on that, we are still going to be partners in that work.

We still want to make sure that classes are being offered and trainings are being offered, and we want to make sure that we are continuing to educate, to engage, and to empower our community.

And then lastly, measure, evaluate, and report.

We have to make sure that we're tracking this progress.

We want to be able to say that this is where we are, these are the outcomes.

And a lot of that will be based off of some of the work that the health department does, right?

When you talk about tracking, I think being able to partner with the health department and hear some of the stories as it relates to children and lead poisoning.

Unfortunately, those are clear indicators of where we are in this work, right?

We just don't want to continue to use our babies as indicators.

We want to use the data that we collect and the systems that we're working on to track that information.

And so before I close, I just want to remind you why this work really, really matters.

So at the center of the ordinance is children.

At the end of the day, it's about kids, right?

I know that you know you have to hire an inspector, you have to comply, you have to get a lead save certificate, but that's not what it's about.

It's about children.

Children don't get to decide where they live, they don't get to decide that, oh, I'm gonna live in this house and it's full of, it's full of lead, and and nothing's gonna be done about it.

They don't get to make that choice, right?

And so as the adults, we have to make that choice for them.

That's our responsibility.

Lead poisoning is 100% preventable, one hundred percent preventable, right?

But its effects last a lifetime, and so a lot of damage can be done that cannot be undone.

And so I know that you know there's always the talk of oh, the lead ordinance, and why do we have to do that?

But at the end of the day, it is about the children.

It's about the children.

And so with that, I yield, and I will answer any questions you may have.

Thank you.

First of all, very much.

I do want to hold questions until the entire presentation, so we have some time.

But we can jump into the next one.

But yeah, we definitely do have questions, and thank you for that presentation.

So we'll go to Commissioner Monarch.

Yes, thank you, members of council.

Jim Molnar, Commissioner of Code Compliance.

Uh, did you say we were supposed to be done by four o'clock?

No.

Okay.

No, you are five.

Really fast.

Just skip the slide.

So yeah, thank you members of council.

I'm here to give an update on our vacant property registration program phase one as well.

Um, so uh just to kind of give a little bit of background.

Uh, you know, we back in December 2025, city council helped us strengthen the ordinance that that um requires vacant property registration and rental registration in the city of Toledo.

Um, with the idea being that we were trying to clarify some some vagueness in the in the ordinance and and try to design a program that can help provide stability with vacant properties in the city, um, and and mostly just to re launch the vacant property program, which began in 2008 and really never had any any legs underneath it, it never really went anywhere, and it wasn't as enforceable as it is now.

So, um just a little bit of context on that, and so what was the reason for it?

You know, obviously we all know vacant properties negative negatively affect neighborhoods.

Um we have these properties.

The reason for the law is we need to have able ways to contact these owners, have uh accountability of owners of these properties that are mostly statistically also the properties that we're cutting the grass for that were boarding up, that we have people going into and bad things happening to people in these vacant properties, and it it helps us hopefully get people to be responsible for these properties and not just walking away.

Um, now it also gives us an opportunity to be uh proactive in in the best sense that we can.

Where if we do have contact information and are negative things happening in these properties, now we do have a phone number, we do have a uh email address, we do have somebody local that would be responsible for managing these properties.

Um, and then also we wanted it to be as consistent as possible since uh just to be clear that a lot of people that we've had since the beginning of the launch are saying, where did this law come from?

I never had to do this before.

Um this is this is ridiculous.

Um and they uh and so we're just saying, no, this law has been there forever, and we are actually enforcing it now.

It's not selective enforcement.

Uh it is proactive enforcement.

Um, and it was something that we could also um do citywide with with the current resources that we had for the for the most part.

Um so we for the most part we launched our new enforcement compliance uh efforts in February, February 17th, uh 2026.

We did a press conference letting the public know that this law did exist, and you were if you had a vacant house, you were probably going to be contacted for by the city.

Um since that time, uh over three months, uh we did we have sent 600 courtesy notices to properties that had been identified by our inspectors as being vacant, identified by the US Post Office as being vacant, and also did not have water service, active water service at their properties.

Um from there, uh we did get some responses, we did get some people registered.

Uh, we went from 55 vacant property registrations to 247 vacant property registrations over that time.

So 349% increase.

Very happy about that.

However, you see about 200 of those got registered, probably most likely either from the press conference or the letters that they received.

So then the next step of that was to we sent our courtesy notice, the requested, we request that you get a vacant property registration.

The violation notice says you are required to get the violent the property vacant or the vacant property registration.

And of those, those are getting to the point where they we've given them the cure curing period where they still haven't responded.

We have so far issued uh the 250 dollar fine that comes along with the uh not having the property registered as a vacant property.

We've gotten 25 of those done, um, and we are in the next coming weeks.

There are going to be probably another 100 or 200, so getting getting sent out as we go.

And uh we also um are going to be expanding our parameters that we are using to send notices again with the courtesy notice and and then the the required notice and then fines.

Um so uh you know, as so here I want to talk about you know building a better system of what we what we've been able to do as well as not just looking at the numbers, but again reiterating we clarified the requirements and the timelines.

A lot of people that maybe even knew about this, didn't think it was ever going to be enforced, or they thought that what if I'm renting a property or what if I'm trying to rent a property, what if I'm trying to renovate the property?

Um I thought there was some kind of waiver, but and there is a waiver that, but you need to be actively be renovating this property.

You have to actively have it listed listed for for sale, and in reality, where the cost of the vacant property registration is $100, which we lowered from $200.

Uh the waiver then cuts that cost to $50.

However, the waiver is only good for 90 days.

So this a lot of people didn't understand that.

They thought they could just come in and I guess lack of better word, make up that they're trying to sell this property and it'll give them half off.

But the reality is it's only half off for 90 days, so you have to pay another $50 after another 90 days, so really you end up paying 200 every year if you're gonna try to try to play a game with us, and and instead of where the real goal is that we want to have people fix up their properties, renovate their properties, get them back into use.

And uh so again, we've had lots of conversations and lots of opportunities to explain this to folks.

We also on the technology side, we were able to stand up uh workflow system and design where we're able to track these properties, track our notices, uh generate notices, um, put in additional tasks and everything.

And I want to thank ICT for being able to do that in the short amount of time that they've had, and uh, and we've got that, so that is fully functional, and it pulls in, it ties into all our data that we're able to track with with CityWorks and then tied into Ptolemy.

Um we did stand up a uh public-facing web page with frequently asked questions.

Uh we were able to uh still still some things need to be tweaked out, but we you are allowed to or you are able to register your vacant property registration online and you're able to pay online now.

Uh still can be a little bit better because right now you have to you register and then we have to review and then and then you have to wait for an email back to make the payment.

But an IT ICT is working on making it's so that's the only time that would need to happen is if you're asking for a waiver, which would make it even more convenient for for property owners.

Again, we've been able to integrate this data into to Ptolemy where we can run our queries, we're able to pull data, we're able to track uh again what our next set of properties are versus which ones have we have already sent notices to versus which ones have the active uh have the active registrations, and so that's all been been able to be completed and and keep us moving forward and getting some traction on this.

How did we make this work with the same amount of resources, the same amount of inspectors, the same staff?

Um, first of all, we did make it a policy before the legislation was even passed in December that our inspectors, while before they could capture occupancy observations on properties.

We made it a policy that has required for inspectors to document to the best of their ability whether it's occupied, whether it appears vacant, and or if they just couldn't tell them we know.

But that way we have uh field inspections that are confirming that this property is vacant, and then combined with the other data.

Um, our administrative team, our our specialists and our clerks are able to use that data to identify what properties need to get the educational courtesy notice, and then follow up through the timeline of going to the required to going to the fines, and um essentially this is you know is improved efficiency.

Uh it's increased owner education, it's scalable citywide.

Uh the process is clear, and and and again, it's is giving us an opportunity to communicate with with the owners.

Where I did forget where the we do have our our specialists and our clerks, where if we have a property that also has code compliance violations, uh now that we have that contact information, we put that into it.

We put that to work.

Where now we have the contacts, so our our clerks and our specialists are calling calling these owners, trying to get them on the phone, letting you know, emailing them, letting them know that they have these open orders that need to be complied with, and get the the rental.

Well, if we had the contact when we have the rental, but there were some that started the process, the registration, but they never paid.

So we then had contact information.

So there were some cases where we found you know, we were able to have them get the property cleaned up, we were able to go out and comply.

So there are no code violations on these properties, and then we were also able to get them to actually pay their rental registration or their uh vacant property registration.

Um so far I I consider this very big success, and and um and it brings us into the next slide is where how is this going to impact our neighborhoods?

It's you know, stronger neighborhoods, safer streets, a better quality of life for all.

Um it builds stronger neighborhoods, uh gives us a way to be proactive as much as possible by hand it having this info and having the relationship is what I'm calling it with property owners.

Uh, they might not like us, but at least we're able to communicate and tell them what they need to do.

In fact, they get these properties in compliance, it does increase property values and investment in the city of Toledo and approves quality of life for all the people that are around these vacant properties.

Um it gives us the ability to be more responsive when there are complaints on properties and get a hold of these people, and then all at the same time, it is fair to it is fair to the property owners that live around these properties, and and it's it's also fair where we try to explain how it's fair to the people that own the vacant properties of how that does cause stress and and risk in our neighborhoods.

Um just uh so kind of kind to uh this display, this graphic here.

I just wanted to show how rental registration, lead safe, and the vacant property registrations all complement each other.

Trying to bring it all back together with Monica's every time she talks about lead, I start getting whatever what's the word weepy or whatever.

I mean, it I mean, that's this is her the lead stuff is so important.

It is, and it's about children, and and but that's where um I yeah, it gets me off, and it obviously just threw me off a little bit again.

But this is where I guess what I'm I see here with the LEDs, the vacant property registration, the lead safe program, and the rental registration, they all complement each other, or they're companion programs, um, almost like the the three sisters.

Uh, if you guys ever heard the three sisters where you have the corn and you have the beans and you have the squash, so the corn grows, and that provides a spot for the beans to grow, like they can, they can grow up the the corn stock, and then the squash grows, and that provides shade basically, so nothing else can grow, so it doesn't have as many weeds that grow behind, and then the beans would pull in the phosphorus and they fertilize, they bring nutrients into the soil, and and they're like the they're called the three sisters.

Yes, so there's the rental registration, vacant property registration, and lead safe program are the is the three sisters of uh of our of our department, our department.

And so, but the idea being that we have our vacant property registration, we get people registered, we have responsibility and accountability.

The idea is that we're encouraging people to not make them vacant anymore, or else you gotta pay this.

You don't like paying a hundred bucks, great fixed repair, repair and rehabilitate this property.

Um, once you get it rehabilitated, then you need a rental registration, so we also have the contact info and you have the accountability, then you also need to get your lead safe compliance.

Therefore, now we have occupied safe housing, and again we have neighborhood stability.

Um so that's I I don't know.

I just like the whole concept of how that all plays itself out.

Um not gonna get too deep on rental registration because we are we are actively sending notices for these, uh, but we've at this point are we were focusing on the vacant property registration.

Um, but the but the rental registration also is going to be a very useful tool because we are allowed to, we're where the rental registration as of now is required to be registered with the county auditor's office, county auditor's office can issue fines for people not having the rental registration.

But for some reason or another, there's only like 55 properties in the whole county in the whole county that got charged the a fee for not having the rental registration, where our rental registration ordinance does has if you don't if you don't get the registration on file with the county auditor's office, we can issue fines for that, and hopefully that'll get more people to get the rental registration and and um more everything that we said, um, and then that can then be um help us compliment where we have the the relationship the communication with the property with the the housing providers that have these rentals properties and and continue to convince them the importance of the of the lead-safe Toledo uh ordinances again the future is now we're building stronger systems, building safer homes, better neighborhoods.

And um, you know, so if there is anybody listening out there that has a vacant property, please get it registered.

We do have a QR code again.

It's also on our website.

You can pay it all online, and and there's contact information if you have questions about it.

Um, I was debating whether I should do this, but I'm I did write a little poem.

So it's but I but I'm gonna go ahead, I'm gonna do it.

So if you're if you own a home that's empty and it's sitting there unused, the city has a message, and we hope it's clearly understood.

Vacant homes affect neighborhoods from safety to repair.

So Toledo has a law in place to make sure owners care.

Register it, secure it, keep it safe and sound, or make a plan to fix it up and bring it back around.

And in the spirit of partnership, we've cut the registration fee in half.

A good faith step to make neighborhood to make safe neighborhoods our shared and common path.

This isn't about punishment, it's about accountability.

Knowing who's responsible protects the whole community.

We'll work with owners who engage, who show effort, plans and care, but when properties are left unchecked, enforcement will be there.

That means permits pull to plan in place, a path back into use, repair it, sell it, reoccupy, but ignoring it is no excuse.

Today Toledo has hundreds of homes.

Neighbors fill the toll.

Vacant houses left unchecked affect safety, health, and home.

So here's the bottom line today.

No confusion, no delay.

If your property is vacant, register it or enforcement is on the way.

I feel that that should be a commercial or a TikTok.

Chief Clemens, you know, we might as well get this marketing together right now because we can do that.

Right, right, right.

And I love the story of Three Sisters, which brings companion planting and things like that.

So that perfectly makes sense.

And I appreciate both of you for just being here and giving us this update.

It seems to be amazing progress.

And hoping that it is continue as you're working through these phases.

But I'm I'm saying that we're it seems to be like on a good track right now.

So we're going to take questions.

Anyone from the audience, if you want to have a comment or have questions, there is a sign-up sheet.

Um, but we will go with council member Gaddis.

Thanks, Jerry, and thank you for your presentations.

I love that poem.

Um we should do a video on my social media together, Jim.

I I am so excited about the changes that you guys are bringing to our neighborhoods, and it's happening as I'm out driving, I'm seeing things as I'm talking to people, they're excited too.

What you're doing is really changing lives and making people that have um felt forgotten feel heard and valued.

And I know that you put in a lot of work and you always hear the complaints, but but I do hear that you know, people are they're they're excited for the changes.

So please don't lose hope in those long days.

Um, my question for the lead is in my district, you know, the deadline is this year.

Um, and so we are seeing people working on stuff or hiring staff.

Um, and I have heard that maybe they don't know what they're doing, and the the landlords are or whomever have hired them, don't know that they have to look for someone with that's certified to make those changes as well.

Um, so a lot of like mistakes are being made where maybe there's lead paint uh chips going into the ground, and we know that that could affect if anyone started a garden that would affect the food pro.

What are we doing to combat that and to get that education out into those people that hey, you really need to have someone that's certified, and hey, if you're if you're a contractor, let's get you certified.

How are we kind of breaching that?

That's a great question.

So one of the things we do is we do intentional outreach.

We recognize that there are some people who aren't familiar with the process or aren't familiar with the fact that the person who's doing the work needs to be certified through the Ohio Department of Health or through the EPA.

And so when we offer different, like oftentimes we'll do a uh landlord last year.

We did a landlord education fair, and at that fair, that's when we really take the time to dig deep into okay, these are the things you have to do.

We're there to answer all of those questions.

We have vendor tables there, just in case people have questions of other uh agencies.

Um, the other thing we do is we work closely with the health department, and so if it is a situation you spoke to uh chipped and pilling paint on the ground, right?

Uh, which causes a huge issue, not just for the soil, but also for the children, because what happens is if there's bare soil around the drip line of a property, the chip paint falls on that bare soil, and if kids are out there and they're playing, sometimes they'll see that paint and they'll pick it up.

Even if they don't put the paint in their mouth, after they pick it up, they could then not wash their hands and put their fingers in their mouth, right?

It's that simple to get lead poisoned.

And so uh another thing we do is we like to have sessions with tenants.

So whether we are attending other agencies, outreach events to have a table and educate people, whether we are putting together our own outreach events to uh provide that education for people, um, we try to make sure that that information is getting out there.

Um, and I can say anything that is going on in your district area that you want us to be at, definitely reach out, let me know.

Uh we we do, we want to make sure that we are getting this information out there.

Hopefully, this year we'll be able to do some um some radio and maybe some news spots so that we can share that information.

I know we're definitely gonna do some social media because we do we want to make sure that that's out there.

Uh and then the other thing we have coming up is the homeownership fair.

And so there will be the Toledo Lead Resource Center will be there, they'll have a lot of literature, uh the health department will be there.

Same for them, they'll have a lot of literature that way.

If people are interested in learning more about lead, they'll be able to learn.

Okay, thank you so much.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you.

Next up is Councilwoman Kramer.

Thank you so much, Chair, and thank you so much for this report.

This is all new to me, so I really appreciate the comprehensive information that you both presented here.

I also really like the poems.

Very nice.

And the lesson that we got about agriculture today is like a bonus.

Um, I see that you've already sent out this question is for you, Monica.

Um, 3,736 letters of violation.

Are we, are people able to get that information in any other way other than like a physical letter?

I know we're probably limited by the information we have about folks, but is there any way we could text or email or anything like that to reach people in a different way?

Well, that's a good question.

What I can say is so that that specific notice isn't posted on the Toledo Lead Safe website, but the information is on the Toledo Lead Safe website.

Um we actually just met with communications today to see how we can kind of blast information out uh better, and so that's something that we're definitely working on.

So currently the notice of violations strictly go to the property, and and the reason being is uh in order to move further with an affidavit to uh a uh referral to housing court, we would have to show that we have completed service, that service is good, meaning that they receive that letter and they've been notified.

And so we have to have a letter go to that property.

Okay, if that helps.

Yes, yeah, that does help.

So when we do send the letters, like hey, you have to go to housing court, what's the percentage of folks that actually show up?

Do we have any idea of that or like no?

Because we haven't gotten that far yet.

Oh, sure.

Right.

So remember, we sent those, yep, we sent those notice of violation letters.

Uh, now what we'll do is we will check to see if anyone else has complied prior to referring them to housing court.

So once we hit let's say June 18th, right?

We'll then run a report, see who is still not compliant, and then we'll uh randomly select the first 200 and we'll refer those individuals to housing court.

If by chance we refer them to housing court and let's say Toledo Municipal Court uh sets a date for them, they go to court.

If they did comply before that, they can either reach out to us to let us know, and we can see if we can remove them from the docket, or they would just then let let the judge know that you know I've since done the work, I've obtained my lead safe certificate.

Okay.

Well, thank you so much for all you do.

I like how you talked about that.

Children don't choose where they live.

Yeah.

That's so important, you know.

You know, and a lot of the work that we all do is to keep you know our residents safe and especially those most vulnerable safe.

So thank you to both of you.

You're welcome.

All right.

We have President Williams.

Thank you for the presentation.

I know we've been talking about it for a long time, but I want to uh definitely uh children don't enjoy living in poverty either.

Um a question about Ptolemy.

How long is our Ptolemy contract?

Is it year to year?

It we have uh we've just renewed for the third year, we have two more years after that.

Okay, so and we have to renew it every year, correct?

Okay, and then after that, do we know what we're gonna do?

I'm thinking about the future because it's such a good tool that I don't want to slip on it.

So no, I I I don't know, okay.

Yeah, I I hope I hope that the city decides to renew it for another five years.

Okay, okay.

That would that would if I if I have a vote, which I don't but I would yeah, I would say go ahead and renew it.

And not only that, I would say expand it to the their slate add on, which has a rental registration, which has a short-term rental registration, as foreclosure from there's lots of other opportunities that we haven't even tapped into.

Yeah, and I and then that was something that I was actually that was leading into it because I know we have that situation where we had a secretary of state where we got to go on and find the LOC that sold it to the LOC to sold it to the LLC.

It did do we know yet.

Does Telemy have that option yet?

Right now it doesn't have a way to get into the secretary of state websites okay, um, but it does have where it's it has an algorithm where it can tie the LLCs together based on the location of the mailing address and then similarly.

Well, the statutory agent has the same address then, right?

Yeah, okay.

So yeah, if there's the the clearing house in Akron that has 300 properties, it ties them all to that that clearing house, and we're able to basically come back and say, Yes, you're connected, most likely you're connected to all these properties.

We still, if we are going to try to legally enforce it and charge people with these things, we have to do we do have to do our due diligence and no extra steps.

Um, but it also has come in very handy, and I don't want to get too deep, that's a whole other topic, uh, conversation topic, but but like let's say we do because we also stood up a vetting uh like if properties are have open violations on them, it is illegal to sell uh property that has open violations on them, and so we've been able to get a lot of a lot of um traction with especially with our local title companies that are enforcing that and checking with us, and if property has open violations, the buyer can then submit a like a vetting application to us, where it's where then we do show the buyer has to show that they know what the violations are, that they have a timeline to bring the property into compliance, and they have the financial means to bring that property into compliance within that timeline.

Um, in addition to that, when that buyer comes, we're able to check very quickly compared to times in the past and see that they own another 25 properties, and oh my goodness, they have five of them that have open code violations.

So we're able to tell that buyer that you need to bring your other properties into compliance before we're going to approve and provide a consent to transfer to for you to take more properties.

Because you already and the logic is you already are struggling to take care of the properties that you own.

Maybe it's not a good idea that you buy any more right now until you can get those other properties in compliance.

And that has been very very effective.

Right, right, and and definitely I think that um uh I wanted to talk about Tolemy because actually it was on our budget chopping block this year, and I and we refuse to chop it off.

So don't put it back on there next year because we need it.

Um we need Ptolemy to actually keep with this enforcement.

Uh, and we need to look at that expanding that option.

We talked about this years ago.

Is the auditor's office or the recorder's office um anybody in the county office that's dealing with our properties?

Are they working with you when in regards to these property changes and with the co-opening because we have this option because I don't think they have use Ptolemy over there?

The uh the treasurer's office has been able to use it, so we've been able to give them access, um, and they are they they they use it every day.

They they tell me.

Um, what's that on our nine?

Yes.

Okay, yeah.

So that here we go.

Yeah, now there is there is a conversation that you know, because they did ask.

Well, can we get it for the whole county and that's where you know we suggested that they um that or that they will need to you know that they will need to become their own subscribers in order to expand it to the whole county um so there are conversations of creating a partnership and getting them on board for sure um and I I actually have a meeting with uh somebody from the auditor's office tomorrow okay to to give them the the overview and they give them a demonstration of what kind of tools might be available to them and so we're moving in a in a we're getting momentum and we're moving in the right direction to get them in as partners on this so tie this back to the lid are the lead certificates on there I mean I know you have the code open co violations up there is that one of them the lead is one of them or are we adding that on there?

It as far as a consent to transfer well not that just like if if say for instance yeah for sure like if there's an open lead like if they're in in the middle of getting their certificate or they have a violation for the lead is that in there right now what Ptolemy shows is if they have a lead certificate okay and is it a rental okay we don't have a line that says they are in violation of not having a lead certificate it does have properties that have been identified by the health department I believe.

Okay that are led hazard that have been identified as lead hazards.

So that is there as well okay yes well that's I really just wanted to dig in and Ptolemy a little bit more just so that we can always keep highlighting how co-compliance is actually using this tool um and uh just how much Jim love it I don't know I I didn't know Jim was so where is Jim at this point down here what's going on with thank you uh thank you um both of you and I just really wanted to talk about told me for sure because this is an important tool that we use and it can help with a whole gambit of things across the county so and the city thank you.

Thank you I would add to that if they're thinking of getting Ptolemy why don't they just share the cost because basically they're gonna duplicate what we have and expand it across the county so we can just share that cost and they can add what they need to add so I know that you have a meeting soon but don't give away all the secrets you know okay uh we're going to councilwoman McPherson.

Thank you I just want to say thank you for your report on the um lead safe ordinance update and and keeping it up front because I think a lot of times we talk about things for a little while and then it kind of and people think that oh yeah now we don't have that anymore yes we still do and our children that are attending our schools are still dealing with the effects of lead so it is no way near far gone and we have to stay on top of that.

Mr Jim for you um yeah let's just take this show on the road with the poem that remember you were just when we did the first press conference I said you know we told them we're gonna come after you so you just reiterated that in the poem so if we could by way of referral get a copy of that poem.

And then on another note and I'm I'm doing this on the record because we were put on the news last night about Chase Street and the issues over there and I want it to be known that we have received it we have responded to it and we are working on that issue correct Mr.

Jim.

I'd say I say correct um we have and we have been working on Chase Street extensively for several years um I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I want to say we've had inspectors there over the last last five years.

I've had 174 times our inspectors have been there.

We have out of 38 properties, 38 have had code compliance cases on them.

So it's not that this property is being neglected, it's that it is a it is a this block is is a continuous challenge.

So we continue to try to do use all the tools that we have to hold the hold the bad actors that that own those properties on that street accountable.

Thank you.

Yes.

I wanted that for the record um just to say, because we do our inner actions and emails, but I wanted it publicly stated because it has been out there, and it sometimes seems like we're not doing what we need to do, but we have been, and it's it just didn't start, and this is one of the um where we have owners that need to register and comply, and we are coming after you, Chase owners, or let's say that for the record also, because this is the prime example of a neighborhood that gets a bad rap because of owners who are not taking care of their property on a regular basis, and the other owners within that neighborhood that try to help and assist and do a little bit of this, and you saw the man talking about he was cutting grass for a while, but you got owners that are just totally negligent in these properties, and it is a bad look for the whole community.

Then it becomes a bad look for the city, and it becomes a bad look for us, like we're not doing what we're supposed to do.

So that's why I am bringing this to the forefront here that it just didn't start, that it has been going on for a while.

We are doing what we need to do.

But homeowners over there on Chase, you know those houses that we're talking about, please help us help your neighbors and come out there and cut that grass and get that trash out of there.

Thank you.

Thank you, Jim, for what you do.

I really appreciate you.

You have the heart for the people and for the work, and that's what I really appreciate.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And yes, I would um second the referral for the poem, please.

So, um, well, this was actually a question for both of you as far as your metrics are concerned.

Were these the only metrics that you have currently, or this was like an abbreviated in the presentation, or was this uh an abbreviated list per se?

As far as far as the vacant property registration, yeah, this was definitely I would say it is abbreviated, but I wasn't sure what council was interested.

So, I mean, I would be interested in seeing more.

Is it the same for you, Monica?

Uh I would say there's there's probably a little more.

Um, I would say it's abbreviated, but uh this is quite a bit of what we have so far.

Oh, yeah, I will I would be interested in seeing the other metrics.

So I'll put in a referral, but yeah, this is definitely a lot, especially for the the lead um aspect of that, and then also um some of the questions that I had were already answered, but I just wanted to for clarification when it came to the technology you were talking about, so that is for landlords, property owners, potential homeowners, potential tenants, everybody can have access to the what it was showed to.

So what we are uh what the lead safe portal is designed to do is take the applications for lead-safe certificate for the LED safe certificates, and so it would be primarily the property owners, so either the property owners as well as some of the local lead inspectors, oftentimes they will complete the application once they're hired.

They'll complete the application for the homeowner, and so it would be primarily for those two.

Okay, the reason why I asked is um that will be the follow-up of will realtors have access to this as they're selling the homes and things of that nature, because I've heard a story where actually during our rental um a town hall or tenant town hall that one of the the realtors she had sold a house and it was full of lead.

Yeah.

And so with that aspect, if this information is available for them, I think that that will definitely be useful.

Also to ensure just the homeowner side.

Yes.

Because I know a lot has been focused on rental, but you know, definitely the homeowner side, if that's where we're trying to go as a city too, this will definitely help as far as the information is concerned.

And I'm sorry, I go into that just really quickly.

Uh one of the things that the Toledo uh lead poisoning prevention coalition um has been working on uh they have been working with Fair Housing as well as the health department uh because uh one of my suggestions was to create um well was to put in place something so that the if there is lead hazard orders on a property, it is attached to the title of that property.

That way, prior to it being sold, that potential new owner would know that okay, wait a minute, there are issues here, right?

And so one of the things um I've had an opportunity to visit the realist and to talk to several realtors, and one of the things I always encourage them to do is visit the lead safe website because on that website we have a link to the Ohio Department of Health website which lists all of the uh placard properties in the in Lucas County, right?

That way they can see that okay, wait a minute, there are issues here.

That's also something that I um I share with people when I get phone calls or when people tell me, Oh, I'm looking for a property.

I always encourage them, make sure you do your due diligence prior to buying that property.

But what what I've learned since looking at that issue is that oftentimes it's a it's a um a quick sale or a cash deal, and so instead of doing a um a title search on the property, people just purchase it because sometimes they just think, oh, it's a really good price, but the part that they don't understand is that they then inherit that placard because the placard stays with the property, it doesn't go with the owner.

And so even if you buy that property and it's placard, you're still required to hire a lead abatement contractor and have that work done and have that property cleared.

And so just know that's definitely something that's on our radar, it's something that we have been working on for a really long time, um, and we are hopeful that uh we will be able to partner with the health department and with the recorder's office so that that the placard properties can be recorded, okay.

Yeah, well, that's definitely good to know.

Yeah, um, like I said, it's because that's part of the priority is homeownership as well as just having safe affordable housing in general.

Um, I guess uh the next question would be more of the financial aspect of it.

I know that we're in the process of sending people to court, um, issuing the fines.

Do you have like an idea of how much could possibly be collected?

Because I know with lead, it could depend on the extent of it, but I know straightforward you're automatically like the 250, the 500 and things like that.

So do we have like an idea of potential fines that could be collected with the OER?

So, in regards to fines, all of that will be determined by the housing court judge.

Okay, right, because now the um noncompliance of the lead ordinance carries a criminal penalty.

And so that's gonna totally be up to the judge.

And I'm sure that there's some information in the uh Toledo Municipal Code that that says how much a fine can be, but at the end of the day, that decision will be made by Judge Howe.

Okay.

Yeah, I'll just I'm just curious.

Commissioner, do you have any idea?

But you your total estimation?

No, no, I that I don't know.

I I believe um part of the reasoning that the I think that was part of where we went back and forth so many times with the legislation in order to get it passed.

Yeah, we weren't able to write the civil fine into the ordinance.

I know I wasn't here uh until the very end that it was passed, but that's my understanding that at that point that's where the the fine itself um if it are they misdemeanor ones.

It's a misdemeanor one.

So the mismeter one, the max fine that you can charge for a misdemeanor one is a thousand dollars.

Okay.

Okay, well maybe we can revisit that in a little bit.

Um considering that we're talking about I don't know a housing trust fund and and all of that nature, and just trying to see how what resources and revenue sources are potentially out there, especially if we're talking about taking care of the housing while investing in the potential of housing could come from code violations and also just housing court costs and things of that nature.

So I was just curious, but looking forward to the other update as well.

Um other than that, I don't see any more questions from council.

We would have questions or comments from the audience.

Okay.

Well, seeing none, this committee meeting is adjourned.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So I think there's all my systems.

I I might have to be good.

I agree with you.

I think it's a rules for the end.

Um, we could say, I reaction to the sheet, I didn't think.

Yes, that's how it's probably a little bit more than that.

I don't know if you have a lot of it.

If you like that, you'll be here and you know, it's not like it's like it's now.

Oh, sorry.

If it was like you use that, um, I'm sure she's a line.

But it's a lot of people who are in the house.

So I was like, but it's not like which you want to use it.

So that's how it's not just right there.

Um, we didn't think that's what it's like.

So that's what I think.

So I'm celebrating, I think.

Oh, you know, yeah.

I'm not going to say that.

Oh, I have a problem.

So I was like, I'm bringing it up, it can't have to be a truck.

She knows what she knows.

So you can see that's how you're going to be able to actually do it.

Oh, so I should have a child.

So I'm not going to be able to do it.

Yeah, I'm going to try to harvest.

So I'm going to just be here.

I think we can do that.