Cincinnati officials are taking a big swing at the city’s housing past, pushing a local reparations-style plan that aims to help residents who were shut out of homeownership for generations.
Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney and Councilman Scotty Johnson are backing a proposal that would seed a new housing reparations program focused on neighborhoods shaped by segregation and discriminatory policies. The motion was introduced on Feb. 19 and is slated for the Cincinnati City Council agenda on March 4.
The plan asks for an initial $5 million and instructs the city administration to produce an annual public report on how the money is used. It also points to potential funding sources, including a tax on recreational marijuana and the city’s capital budget, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. Kearney told the outlet, “let’s repair some of the damage done to low-income communities that kept the residents from owning homes and other real estate and prevented building of generational wealth.” The motion, co-sponsored by Johnson, calls on city staff to design a Cincinnati real property reparations program for council to review.
Who Would Qualify And Where The Money Would Go
The proposal zeroes in on what it labels the “Rising 15,” a group of neighborhoods described as either majority Black or home to significant Black populations. The list includes Lower Price Hill, Queensgate, English Woods, Millvale and the Villages at Roll Hill, among others, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer…