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Residents and activists urge divestment, accuse city practices of targeting Black homeowners
Summary
At Cincinnati City Council—s citizen comment period, several residents condemned the council's silence on international conflict, urged divestment and accused city housing and building practices of targeting Black and low‑income homeowners; others raised local concerns including graffiti and utility billing practices.
Public commenters used the city's allotted two minutes each to press Cincinnati City Council on a mix of local and international concerns during the meeting on Oct. 1. Several speakers criticized the council for not taking public stands on international violence and called for divestment; others raised local housing‑court practices and neighborhood maintenance issues.
Jonathan Norman, introduced by the clerk and speaking during the public comment period, framed the larger moral case: “This is political violence,” he said, criticizing elected officials for remaining silent in the face of atrocities abroad and urging officials to prioritize action rather than political calculation (SEG 086–SEG 095). Bettina Ernst said protesters had gathered at the U.N. and urged the council to pursue divestment legislation locally, calling on members to “rise with” a growing movement and warning of a future moral accounting (SEG 144–SEG 174).
In the same public comment period, an attendee who addressed the council about vacant‑building and housing‑court practices alleged systemic targeting of Black and low‑income homeowners. The commenter accused the city—s law and building departments of pressuring owners for titles and said the city—s vacant‑building program and housing court had been used to dispossess property from poor Black residents (SEG 005–SEG 048). The speaker did not identify an official remedy but urged council to end those practices.
Other local concerns included a request from Amber Kassem for a site visit to address graffiti and debris near the Price Hill recreation center and Kroger on Warsaw (SEG 248–SEG 293). Mike Eulhorn raised complaints about Greater Cincinnati Water Works billing and alleged that the utility—s practices violated Ohio Revised Code provisions; he said he had contacted the Ohio attorney general and the Public Utilities Commission and described the matter as unresolved (SEG 302–SEG 343).
Council did not respond with formal actions during the public comment period; the mayor recessed the meeting and the council reconvened at 2 p.m. to begin the business agenda. The public comment speakers asked for investigatory follow‑up and, in some cases, legislative action; the record shows the matters remain at the stage of citizen complaints and requests for council attention rather than formal council directives (SEG 344–SEG 349).
