Stirring the pot

Dear Mr. Winkler,

Damn, lad, you must be some kind of low down, no good, rabble-rousing, falsehood spewing trouble maker.
You must be so; as the fine upstanding civic leaders of our time have said so.

I don’t know what you thought was in that pot when you started stirring it, but I believe there remains no doubt now what that pot contains.  Keep stirring ‘til the smell dissipates...

Good Luck
Matt Engel

Help the poor

To Whom It May Concern:

I write this letter in response to the barrage of rather jejune letters to the Oakwood Register trying to figure out the basic meaning of “complexion.”  As any author, I write from a specific worldview and a specific socio-economic base.  My wife and I recently moved to Oakwood from Toronto, Canada, so I could take a job as a teacher of New Testament and Christian Origins in the Religion Department at Wright State University. I’m also a devout Catholic, who strongly believes in the social teachings of the church as well as the Bible’s “preferential option for the poor,” as explicated by numerous Latin American theologians.

Something I often tell my students at WSU is that in the New Testament alone, the “poor” are mentioned close to 200 times!  If one looks at the references to the “poor” in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, there the poor are mentioned some 800 times or more.  As one scholar puts it, “The poor are a constant theme of the Bible, perhaps second only to God.”  What amazes me is that as I look around Oakwood and see it bordered by two Catholic churches, along with a Lutheran church and an Episcopal church right in its midst, the religious issue regarding Section-8 housing has scarcely been discussed!

In the book of Deuteronomy, the Israelite farmers were commanded to leave a part of their fields open for the poor and the needy, simply because the poor had little to eat. The 8th century prophets, such as First Isaiah and Amos, excoriated the rich for taking advantage of the poor.  If we add to this the words of Jesus and other NT authors, we find a very similar attitude summed up best in what is known to the English speaking world as the Letter of James. James, whoever this may have been, proclaims, “True an unadulterated religion is taking care of the poor and the needy!” Such a sentiment parallels Catholic Social Teaching, which argues that poverty causes a loss of dignity for the poor.  It is the responsibility of all Christians and government institutions alike to restore this dignity to the poor!

By giving up a part of our beloved Oakwood, we are leaving part of our field for those who need it more than we do. Yes, it may change the “complexion” of our city—whatever “complexion” may mean in a postmodern world where it can mean almost anything—but such a sacrifice would only be giving the gift of dignity to those who need it most.

Therefore, I call on all Christians and people of faith in Oakwood to join me in opening our streets, our yards, our hearts, and our homes to those in Section-8 housing.

In the Struggle for Justice and Peace,

David A. Reed

A line has to be drawn

I have known for sometime about this potential nightmare about to hit Oakwood and Kettering.  It started about a year and a half ago when the apartments along Wilmington Avenue and Patterson Road in the city of Dayton began taking vouchers heavily and DMHA opened the Senior Living High Rise on Wilmington (It’s the “guest” not the residents). I have first-hand insight to discuss this matter.  I have seen a tremendous increase in calls for service (medical, i.e. “overdoses, assaults” and police) and traffic stops where drugs and guns have been located in these neighborhoods. The “walk-thru” traffic is a different type with persons begging for money and knocking on doors in the middle of the night.  Crime has no boundaries. They are where the feet, stolen bike or car will take them. But the boundary starts somewhere, and unfortunately it is starting in these neighborhoods now.  

I agree that not all low-income housing persons are bad seeds, but I do know first-hand what this type of housing brings. The criminal element comes in the form of intimidation to older residents who have befriended or have relations with them, and “they just need to lay their head somewhere for a little while.”  Or it’s the “girlfriend’s place” or “I’m seeing my babies’ momma.” All one has to do is look at the North Main Street area of Dayton.

About five years ago DMHA began buying a home here or there on different streets to provide a different way of placement. Today North Main Street is a much differ
ent street with major crime, depleted housing stock, and absentee landlords. The once loved businesses (The Upper Krust, Rutledge Gallery, Milanos, etc.)  are long gone. It is no secret why they left. I too had to leave there because my family was robbed, property destroyed, and fear of what is going to happen next. I dearly wanted to give my city a chance.

It is not a “snobbish” thing, nor “I am better than you” issue.  It is a Way of Life issue and a Crime issue. A choice has been made by those of us who live here. The neighborhoods in the South Dayton, Oakwood, and Kettering municipalities will come to a reality check much sooner than later. It has already started. The homes, items, and yes, possibly even the Life we have worked hard for, and the feeling of Safety and Security these neighborhoods evoke, are going to be lost forever. A line has to be drawn somewhere.

Michael DeBorde

A rejoinder…

Dear Oakwood citizens,

On Monday, Aug. 27, at 7:30 pm in Council chambers, Gregory Johnson, executive director of Dayton Metropolitan Housing Authority will be present and will participate in the Oakwood City Council meeting. He will be giving both a presentation to council and the public and answering questions. The public is invited to attend.

We published the Letter to the Editor below in last week’s Oakwood Register (Aug. 14) by the Oakwood City Council, refuting the stories written by me recently as “innuendos, half-truths and misinformation.” Below is a point-by-point rejoinder to the letter sent us last week. The letter is printed in italics with the “Response” following:

• The Victory Apartments complex, which is in the city of Kettering, has from its beginning 60 years ago offered one bedroom apartments at low rent. We in Oakwood have lived as neighbors to this complex for six decades without harm to our community. Response: True, but of late, private landlords and investors have been buying up and rehabbing those apartments to Housing and Urban Development (HUD) codes to qualify for acceptance of Section 8 vouchers. I also understand some dwellings are being also modified to conform to American Disabilities Act standards as well.

• The city of Kettering takes great pride in their neighborhoods and enforces their property maintenance codes accordingly. The word “blight” would not come to mind as one drives through this neighborhood. Response: The word  “blight” has never been mentioned in any stories written in the Oakwood Register, but now that you mention it, “blight” does begin to come to mind when one now sees apartments with blankets and sheets covering the windows of some of the apartments where before there were proper shades or curtains.

• The purchase of four buildings, 16 units, by Dayton Metropolitan Housing Authority, less than five percent of the total units in the Victory Apartments complex, is not going to change the neighborhood. Response: The purchase of those properties and the accompanying announcement of such serves only as a red herring as the aforementioned properties are NOT Section 8 housing units. According to DMHA Director Greg Johnson, those four properties (and the fifth in Oakwood) are termed “Public Housing” units as they are owned and managed by DMHA. Section 8 housing is owned entirely by private investors. According to Johnson, there are no limits on the number of Section Eight vouchers that can be obtained by private landlords.  It is the many recently rehabbed apartments in the area that are now ‘open for business’ with a Section 8 designation that I have been writing about. Those units WILL change the neighborhood.

• DMHA’s mission is to serve their clients, those in need of housing assistance who have proven themselves good citizens. DMHA has no desire to harm communities. Their investment in the upgrade of the buildings they purchased speaks to this and has brought great improvements to these structures. Response: DMHA has an absolutely abysmal record of property maintenance in Dayton. Just recently, a randomly-selected inspection of 49 local properties by inspectors at HUD resulted in a 100 percent failure rating. Furthermore, the investment DMHA made in the Kettering properties also had its downside. The theft of a large amount of copper wiring from the premises during the rehab phase occurred. “We can’t afford to rehab more houses here,” Johnson said.

• DMHA has no plans to purchase more buildings in the Victory Apartment complex or elsewhere in this area of Kettering. Response: Not true. DMHA expressly reserves the right to purchase more properties in the future.

• In July 2004, DMHA purchased a four unit apartment building in Oakwood. They invested heavily in its renovation and created a facility in which anyone would take pride.  Their clients have lived there as law abiding citizens ever since. DMHA has no plans to purchase additional Oakwood property. Response: Again, not true. DMHA expressly reserves the right to purchase more properties in the future.

• Oakwood’s property maintenance code and its regular, rigorous enforcement are equal to any challenge a property owner can produce. This includes any type of subsidized housing. We are not dependent on property owners’ standards and monitoring but instead conduct our own inspections, inside and outside property, and enforce the standards which our ordinances require.  Our ordinances provide the tools needed to maintain the standards sought by Oakwood citizens.  In this respect we are the envy of other cities in our county and beyond. Response: The former apartment on Shroyer Road that housed mentally ill drug abusers and burned down a few years ago kind of flies in the face of that assertion. It was quite literally a “crack house” according to police sources.

• Anyone visiting or living in the city of Oakwood will meet the behavior standards required by our laws and if they do not will be cited by our safety officers and held accountable through our courts.  We have a public safety department that responds to calls faster than almost all departments in the country. On average, our first officer is at the scene of call within approximately two minutes. We citizens pay for this service and we get what we pay for. Response: Absolutely, the Oakwood dispatchers, EMT and police squads are the finest professionals anywhere.

• One of the hallmarks of Oakwood is that many of our citizens take a very active roll in helping to “police” (in a generic, not literal sense) our neighborhoods.  We keep an eye out for each other and contact the city to report items of concern.  As our citizens continue to do this, our public safety and property maintenance staff will continue to do their good work and Oakwood’s high standards will be maintained. Response: True – and we don’t even need “Neighborhood Watch Area” signs either.

Lance Winkler, editor

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