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Tenants and legal advocates urge commission to adopt non-retaliation protections after alleged landlord retaliation
Summary
Multiple Park Lane tenants and an ABLE attorney described alleged retaliation — nonrenewals and locked common areas — after tenants organized; speakers urged the commission to consider a non-retaliation ordinance similar to ones in Cincinnati and Columbus and to add mold to local code enforcement provisions.
Several tenants from Park Lane and an attorney representing tenants told the commission they faced retaliation after organizing a tenants' union. Alexander Stone, president of the Park Lane Tenants Union, said management and ownership repeatedly locked common areas, posted new rules restricting gatherings and served nonrenewal notices to tenant organizers. "We are the president and an active member of the tenant's union with a non renewal notice," Stone said.
Christie Ortiz, managing attorney at ABLE, told the commission she has seen a negative pattern of retaliation and presented a drafted ordinance mirroring those passed in Cincinnati and Columbus to create non-retaliation protections for tenants organizing for repairs and safety. Sarah Lynnhart urged the commission to look into tenant protections for non-retaliation specifically around unionizing efforts. Commissioners thanked tenants for coming forward and asked staff and the law department to review Ortiz's draft and consider mold enforcement language to strengthen remedies for unhealthy living conditions.
