But tenant union members and supporters say they don’t think Dickstein is going to do this, and they claim her actions are discriminatory in nature.
“The city manager’s reasoning for excluding tenants from a decision-making role regarding housing echoes the nefarious spirit of Jim Crow laws,” said Destiny Brown, a community organizer with Advocates for Basic Legal Equality (ABLE), a nonprofit law firm that serves vulnerable populations.
In response, Dickstein said, “There’s been no refusal, no intentional exclusion nor disagreement about having tenants on the steering committee. In fact, I think it’s a good idea.”
Last fall, the Dayton City Commission approved a Dayton Housing Policy that contains many recommendations that are meant to improve housing conditions across the city.
Dickstein described the document as a “roadmap” to tackle the community’s housing needs, though some leaders have called it more of a strategic framework than an actual list of policies.
The policy document states that a steering committee of between eight to 10 people will be in charge of monitoring and overseeing the housing policy, along with the city’s director of planning and neighborhoods, Todd Kinskey.
The housing policy document says that committee members are supposed to include housing development professionals and community members.
Last week, more than a dozen backers and members of the Dayton Tenant Union spoke during the city commission meeting to ask for a tenant union member to be appointed to the steering committee.
Kathleen Kersh, a senior attorney with ABLE, said the city too often excludes community leaders from decision-making groups and instead hand-picks people who are already involved with the city. The city decides who it wants to represent the community, instead of the community making this decision, she said.
“In doing this, the city communicates to its residents that it knows what the residents need better than the residents do,” she said.
ABLE attorneys made public a Jan. 23 email from Kinskey in which he wrote that the city wanted to add a housing professional to the steering committee, preferably a lawyer from ABLE, instead of appointing a “community organizer.”
In the email, Kinskey said subgroups likely will be convened to get input on specific housing issues, and one of those might include tenants.
Viridis Green, a member of the tenant union, said the city seems “intent on freezing us out” but OK with selecting committee members who represent quasi-government agencies like the housing authority and private interests, like a local realtors association.
Green said she met with the city manager last week to be interviewed as a potential candidate for the steering committee, questioning whether other committee members had to go through the same process.
ABLE attorneys and staff said the city is engaging in discriminatory practices by identifying a group of people (tenants) as uneducated, unprofessional and unqualified to contribute to policy discussions and decisions via a steering committee that will guide decision-making about housing for years to come.
On Wednesday night, Dickstein said it “probably was an oversight” that a tenant or multiple tenants have not already been identified to serve on the committee.
The steering committee met twice last month.
“I am trying to, as quickly as possible, explore through a variety of options to make sure that we aren’t just putting a token person on a steering committee,” she said. “I agree — having lived experienced and a voice on the steering committee is a value-add ...”
Dayton City Commissioner Chris Shaw said the city manager has made it clear that she wants tenants on the steering committee in some capacity.
“I am going to push back on the perception that this is somehow some kind of a racist organization and administration and city manager,” Shaw said. “That has not been my experience with practically anyone in this organization. And I think we are committed to diversity, equity and inclusion.”
Commissioner Shenise Turner-Sloss said the comments made by the tenant union are a source of concern. She called Dickstein’s claim about this being an oversight on her part “completely false.”
“This body ... brought that to your attention — and we made the recommendation for you to make sure someone was appointed,” she said.
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