Cleveland councilman ignored lead-safe law at his rental properties

Cleveland City Councilman Kevin Bishop for years ignored the city’s lead-safe housing laws at his own rental properties, even as he repeatedly voted to strengthen them, Cleveland.com reports.

Why it matters: More than 1,000 Cleveland children still test positive for elevated blood lead levels each year, despite years of outreach, incentives, and enforcement.

  • The city’s regulations are doomed if even lawmakers don’t bother to comply.

The big picture: Cleveland passed its 2019 landmark lead-safe law to require landlords to inspect and remediate homes built before 1978, replacing a system that often acted only after lead poisoning occurred.

Driving the news: Cleveland.com reported last week that Bishop has owned four Cleveland rental properties since at least 2014. Only one was once registered as a rental. None has been certified as lead-safe…

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