Winton Hills residents urge city support for Mother of Christ acquisition; council sets deadlines for motions on remaining budgeted funds

Two residents of Winton Hills addressed the Budget & Finance Committee during the public comment period to ask council to support neighborhood efforts to acquire a church building for community use.

Ubaleya Macharia, introduced by the chair as a Winton Hills representative, said the Mother of Christ church would be repurposed as a community hub and described long‑standing disinvestment in the neighborhood. "We have a ton of youth programs. Youth is like the top priority for us in our community, and this gives us another place to serve our youth," Macharia said.

Ramika Smith, identified as acting vice president and co‑treasurer of the Winton Hills Community Council, thanked councilmembers for considering the motion to acquire Mother of Christ and highlighted residents’ survey work showing housing and food insecurity as priorities. Smith said the church would enable more youth programming and other services.

During the business portion of the meeting the chair reviewed three pending motions (items 2, 3 and 4) tied to roughly $1,290,000 left over from the prior budget process and announced a timeline for additional motions. The chair said up to $500,000 of that leftover amount could be used for capital projects and that any additional motions must be submitted to the clerk by Friday, Jan. 31 at noon. The administration will compile a single report on submitted motions — including nonprofit status, past city funding and any tax liabilities — and that report was to be returned around Feb. 21 to allow budget committee discussion on Feb. 24.

The chair and other councilmembers noted that some projects have external deadlines and said the administration would check whether the Winton Hills acquisition timeline required a separate accommodation. The chair said items 2, 3 and 4 would be held pending that report and further action.