Section 8 Housing

1) It was obvious that CONSOC Housing Consultants of Columbus and the Citizens currently on Section 8 are passionate about its administration remaining in Middletown. I also think it is obvious that many residents of Middletown and business owners failed to voice their opinions in the Public Comment Section due to the fear of being harassed for their opinion. Look at what happened the last time an issue such as this was raised and I refer to the Senior Housing issue that came up a year or so ago. Business owners and residents voiced their opinions and many were derided for those opinions.

2) Currently Middletown maintains an excessive number of Butler Counties Section 8 Vouchers, approximately 1660 vouchers or 56% of the Counties vouchers for a population that only represents 15% of the County. This number needs to be brought more inline with the Cities population in the county. In others words the number needs to be reduced.

A Plan to reduce the amount of Section 8 housing in Middletown:

1) A moratorium on any additional Section 8 housing in Middletown.

2) Turn over the current vouchers to BMH for administration with the following provisions.

a) All current Section 8 Vouchers recipients in Middletown maintain their current status.

b) Due to the number of vouchers in Middletown a satellite BMH office should be opened and maintained in Middletown. This can be structured so that as the number of vouchers in Middletown is reduced the hours or number of days the Office is open can be reduced and eventually closed when the number of vouchers has reached a certain level, determined by council. This was a major concern of Section 8 recipients, having to drive to Hamilton. The other major concern was that they didn’t want to deal with BMH, we can’t always pick who we want to deal with in our lives and this is just a fact of life.

c) By transferring all vouchers and administration of the program to BMH, as Middletown’s recipients no longer need a voucher, the voucher would go to the next recipient on the list and they could live in any city in the county that has Section 8 housing available. This should theoretically reduce the number of vouchers in Middletown and also reduce the need to maintain so much section 8 housing in Middletown. The goal is to reduce Middletown’s Section 8 housing to be more inline with its population. Currently about 98% of the section 8 vouchers in Middletown go to residents of Middletown, in other words you live in Middletown you get preference over anyone else.

d) The City Council can maintain inspection control of the Section 8 units if that is desired. They should also require a seat on the BMH Housing Committee/Council. I disagree with the City Council and City Admin becoming more involved with this program. The City has enough issues to deal with which concern 51,000 residents, they do not need to have another committee or issue to deal with. Also Cities involvement with this program in the past is why we are at where we are currently. The City should also not be in the business of supporting the industry of Section 8 Landlords. The Councils objective should be the reduction of this type of housing and its use, for the overall improvement of the City. That should be their main GOAL, THE OVERALL IMPROVEMENT OF THE CITY AS A WHOLE. Turning this matter over to the professionals will benefit all involved, especially Middletown down the road. The City must become more aggressive and progressive in the handling of its issues. It must look at the overall picture for the improvement of the city as a whole not just one section or sector of the population.

This should be a priority for Council as this is not an instant fix and will take years, but it is a step in the right direction to improve the overall quality of life in Middletown, improve its standing in the community and to entice economic growth in the City, rather than to just be stagnant as we are now and continue with the Status Quo.