Tenants in Prodigy receivership urge city to meet after reports of sewage in apartments

Tenants of properties in the receivership of Prodigy told Cincinnati City Council on May 21 that they are living in poor and unsafe conditions and asked the city to schedule a meeting with the company and tenant representatives.

Marcy Frazier, introducing herself as a tenant and representative of a tenant union formed across multiple buildings in the receivership, said, “Our goal is seriously discussing with prodigy and the city about our living conditions and the future of our homes.” She told the council she visited Kirby Avenue earlier that week and “saw the sewer coming into the tenants' apartments.”

Why it matters: Tenants said the receivership followed the collapse of Vision and Beyond and that residents — including elders, disabled tenants, children and working families — face hazardous conditions without a plan that includes tenant input. Tenant speakers said they represent more than 100 tenants across multiple buildings and urged the city and Prodigy to meet with the tenant union before the end of the month.

Brad Hearn, a union organizer who identified himself as a union representative with the Cincinnati Tenants Union, said tenants have taken the initiative to organize and “are ready to sit and negotiate as equals.” He told the council he looks forward to the city meeting with the tenant union and Prodigy so “we can reach fair agreements on the situation.”

During the public comment exchange, the mayor responded directly to the request: “I would be I'd be happy to meet with you and the union.” The mayor asked the speaker to share contact information with city staff (referred to in the meeting as Chaka) so staff could set up the meeting.

Discussion versus action: The comments led to a commitment from the mayor to meet and a staff follow-up request for contact information; there was no formal vote, ordinance or regulatory action taken by council on the record at this meeting. Tenants said they had already requested meetings with Prodigy and that Prodigy had not responded.

Noted claims and clarifications from public speakers: speakers described Prodigy as the successor/manager in a receivership tied to the earlier Vision and Beyond portfolio; one commenter asserted that criminal and federal charges connected to Vision and Beyond remain pending and that an earlier city case had been consolidated and is not scheduled for trial until October 2027. Those legal-status claims were made by public commenters and were not converted into records or motions by council during the meeting.

What happens next: The mayor asked the tenant speaker to provide contact information to city staff (Chaka) so the city can set up a meeting with the tenant union and Prodigy. The tenant union requested that a first meeting be scheduled by the end of the month.

Ending: Tenants said they are forming a union across multiple buildings in the receivership and pressed the city for prompt, tenant-inclusive planning; the mayor’s pledge to meet and the staff follow-up request were the only formal directions recorded during this meeting.