Cincinnati’s inexpensive housing constitution modification determined

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After the third edition was defeated by the voters on Tuesday, it’s back to the drawing board for proponents of affordable housing.

The controversial amendment to the charter would have required the city to allocate at least $ 50 million a year to affordable housing, with the amount increasing every year with inflation.

But the voters said no.

With 89% of counties reported, Issue 3 lost 73% to 28%, according to unofficial results from the Hamilton County’s electoral authority.

The Issue 3 campaign was granted shortly after 10 p.m.

“Our efforts are not a well-funded PR campaign. Our efforts are a movement, and movements don’t stop until we’re where we want to be, ”said Josh Spring, executive director of the Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition and a major proponent of the amendment. “Regardless of what the final result is tonight, we will be moving forward. And we will go forward until we live in a city where everyone has access to housing that they can afford and that are safe and healthy. “

Housing advocates said Issue 3 was the result of inaction and broken promises by elected officials who always talked about the need for affordable housing, but rarely backed up that conversation with action.

But city officials and union leaders spoke out in almost en masse against the proposal, saying it would destroy the budget and lead to layoffs and cuts, which would ultimately harm the very people it was supposed to be helping.

Cincinnati’s three main political parties – Republicans, Democrats, and the Charter Committee – All rejected the amendment. Ultimately, that opposition was too strong for the Issue 3 campaign to overcome.

Katie Eagan, vice president of government affairs for the Cincinnati US regional chamber and part of the No on Issue 3 coalition, said voters recognized that while affordable housing is a worthwhile and necessary thing, the charter amendment was “very, very flawed” be.

“The group that brought out Issue 3 did it on their own,” said Eagan. “And we formed a strong, community-based, diverse citizen coalition to defeat this because we knew this was going to be disastrous for the city of Cincinnati and we knew this is not the way to address the affordable housing crisis in our city to solve. “

Some voters told The Enquirer on Tuesday that they would vote for the amendment because they felt it was time for the city to campaign for affordable housing.

However, others, like Hyde Park’s Lorraine Downing, said they were concerned about the budget impact and planned to vote against the measure.

“I think it’s a lot of money, it’s being taken away from a lot of sources to try and make it all the same,” said Downing, 78. “Life is not the same and I think there is a better way to make this less to help.” happy.”

Read or share this story: https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2021/05/04/issue-3-cincinnatis-affordable-housing-charter-amgement-decided/7387905002/