Residents and tenants urge funding for housing trust fund and access to counsel; city staff outline pilots and next steps

Several residents and tenant advocates urged the council to fund a housing trust fund and to permanently fund an access-to-counsel pilot during the public-comment portion of the Dayton City Council meeting.

Ray Elson, speaking as a representative of the Dayton Tenant Union, said the group's work has supported families facing unsafe housing and eviction and told commissioners the city should “fully fund the proposed access to council program.” He told the commission, “We need permanent funding,” and said the pilot has helped keep families housed and exposed illegal landlord practices.

Other speakers echoed that appeal. Arlie (Arlie) Forte, an older resident who said she placed rent in escrow while pursuing repairs, described extreme cold, high utility bills and difficulty getting a response from her landlord and city offices; she called for a housing trust fund to provide repair, legal support and tenant relocation assistance. Destiny Brown praised recent council attention to housing and urged urgency in turning “a line item” into real, available funding. Larry Hayden described tenant hotline work and asked the council to convert strategic recognition of housing problems into funded action that can address lead, mold and pest exposure. Several speakers said legal assistance for tenants prevents costly downstream social-service costs.

City staff closed the public-comment period by summarizing current and planned housing activity. Staff (Miss Dixteen) said the city has invested in rehab programs and enforcement measures and noted prior condition surveys that identified roughly 5,000 properties classified with significant condition issues. She said the welcome-home/land-bank leveraging strategy currently in recommendation would leverage roughly $7 million in outside funds and pointed to more than $20 million in prior investments across programs. Staff also said the access-to-counsel pilot was running through the year and would return data to the city and county for review and potential expansion. Staff described a separate pilot being developed to hold landlords accountable and noted that criteria for selecting participating landlords are still under discussion.

Why it matters: More than half of Dayton residents rent, speakers said, and advocates argued that without legal counsel and funded repair programs, landlords will not be held accountable and vulnerable households will remain at risk. Speakers cited evidence from other cities that access-to-counsel programs reduce public costs when tenants retain housing.

Ending: Commissioners thanked speakers and asked staff for follow-up. Staff said they will share pilot data and return with recommendations; advocates urged council action to tie funding to the housing trust fund and tenant-protection measures.