Ordinance Status Update

As you are aware there is a group of non-owner occupied property owners trying to stop the ordinance. This group has been meeting weekly presenting our case to the Mayor, Administrator, and City Council members and have gotten nowhere. I have been in the Mayor’s meetings with 7 other landlords since January expressing the overreach, invasive, and unconstitutional aspects of the ordinance. They don’t care. This is something the Mayor and Administrator want and they have convinced City Council this is a necessity and good for Maumee.

The group, trying our best to represent your interests, presented an alternative proposed ordinance to the City. We also recommended a slow rollout for repairs to see if this would resolve the issue they have with landlords. They said they’d review our proposal and have one more meeting this Monday with the Mayor. Just so you know, it doesn’t look good. The ordinance as the City presented is the one they want to pass.

The meeting with the Mayor this past Monday, on the 6th began with the Mayor saying, “I’ll tell you we are not here today to discuss whether or not there is going to be an ordinance, because I know most all of you are opposed to it, and we are not going to delay it for 6 months as been asked. What we are here, is if you have specific concerns, questions, objections to provisions of the ordinance to discuss them.”

I assure you, we presented concerns, questions, and objections and we provided the City with data that addressed their concerns of potential crime in Maumee. SO, next steps…we are working on some legal and political options. I will keep you updated.

Many of you want to walk a petition around your neighborhood. I do think this is a good way to get councils attention, but sadly I do not think it will change their minds. WE need 4 council members to VOTE NO. There will be 3 council seats up in November that we will need to take if this (when this) goes through, so we can repeal this ordinance. Currently, Phil Leinbach is the only council member opposed to the ordinance. Three more seats and we have the 4 to repeal.

I will put together a petition for those of you who’d like to get signatures before the Monday, March 20th meeting. Send me an email and I’ll forward you a copy. Voting is the 20th. Try to attend as a resident, get your neighbors and tenants to speak in opposition. Violates Tenants 4th amendment rights, adds a renters tax by applying fees and fines to landlords that will be passed on to renters, changes the Federal Housing optional voucher/section 8 program to a mandated program in Maumee. We all believe in fair and affordable housing, this ordinance takes fair and affordable away.

Colleen LaChapelle
Mobile: 419-350-3024
Colleen.LaChapelle@gmail.com