Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Housing topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Residents press Oshkosh council for tenant protections and a tenant resource center
Summary
Multiple residents told the council about unsafe rental conditions, long shelter and voucher wait lists and high application fees, urging the city to pursue tenant supports, systematic inspections, and a tenant-landlord resource center modeled on Dane County or Racine initiatives.
Several Oshkosh residents used the public-comment period on Nov. 12 to urge the Common Council to act on affordable housing, tenant protections and homelessness.
Tina Hafeman, a volunteer with Esther's housing advocacy group (SEG 064), described weekly conversations with people facing eviction and said nearly 40% of Winnebago County households earn under $50,000. She urged councilors to support a pilot help agency run through the Winnebago County ADRC (paid by ARPA funds) and to explore a tenant resource center modeled on long-running programs in Dane County and Madison.
Deb Martin (SEG 175) and other speakers recounted poorly maintained rental units and landlords not making repairs, and they said shelter wait lists are long (speakers cited wait lists up to about 30 people) and housing choice voucher waits can be as long as two years. Bill Van Lopek (SEG 273) and Jennifer Konstein (SEG 430) gave examples of tenants facing infestations, leaks and retaliation; Konstein said the city's 2022 housing study found Oshkosh was short roughly 2,424 units for households earning under $25,000.
Speakers recommended several policy options: scheduled, systematic inspections of rental units or a neighborhood enhancement district (as in Racine), expanded enforcement of statutory limits on application fees (speakers noted the $25 per adult cap under Wisconsin law), an escrow model for rent payments where landlords fail to address habitability code violations, and establishing a tenant-landlord resource center to assist tenants and mediate disputes.
Council responses included commitments to place a future agenda item to review the city's existing rental program, and staff-level engagement to clarify what city resources and partnerships would be required. Deputy Mayor Bulow and other council members acknowledged the longstanding nature of the problem and asked staff to return with options for a public–private nonprofit partnership.
Speakers and precise claims during public comments are summarized from the record; none of the recommendations were enacted at the meeting but several council members expressed interest in pursuing staff analysis and future agenda time.
