Akron City Council looks to raise the bar on affordable housing standards

Akron City Council is convening a new committee to make sure that Akron families in affordable housing are living in places that are clean, safe and secure.

The Safe Housing Steering Committee will investigate issues reported by residents and suggest strategies to address problems. Council formed the committee partly in response to a move by tenants at two apartment complexes to form unions to protest substandard conditions.

Councilman Jeff Fusco is co-chair of the committee. He says one of their first steps will be to organize a town hall session to be able to hear thoughts and complaints from the community.

"Together, I think the governmental side, as well as the community side, will make sure this gets done and we'll make sure that this is going to it's going to be a safe place for people to live and that there's offerings in terms of help and assistance for those that are going to ask for it.”

Other members of the Safe Housing Steering Committee are:

• Roberta Aber, Board Vice-Chairman, Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority
• Montrella Jackson, Chief Executive Officer for the Akron Municipal Court
• Cazzell Smith, Community Organizer, Former Summit County Council Member
• Jeff Wilhite, Summit County Council Member, District 4

Copyright 2022 WKSU. To see more, visit WKSU.