Students
tell council Romkey Park area should get grant funds
By Ellen Crawford
The Forum - 11/07/2000
Three Minnesota State University Moorhead students told the Moorhead City Council Monday how they’d like to see some of the city’s community development block grant money spent.
Christi Osborn, Janet Sylvester and Brent Moos said it should be targeted at the Romkey Park area through increased housing inspections, more park programming and equipment and developing a neighborhood block club.
They took on the area as a class project.
Osborn said more fire code inspections are a must because she saw evidence of mold growing in an apartment that wasn’t adequately cleaned after last summer’s flooding; leaky ceilings; boarded-up, unlocked apartments; broken windows, as well as other hazards. People put up with those conditions because they are afraid they will lose their housing if they complain, she said.
Sylvester said one solution would be to establish deadlines for property owners to either repair or remove dilapidated buildings.
Moos said more park programming and new playground equipment would not only give kids a better, safer place to play, it would reduce the risk intimidation and harassment.
Duke Schempp of the People Escaping Poverty Project told council members how they shouldn’t spend the money – allowing the police to continue handing out central intelligence database reports to landlords who request background checks on prospective tenants.
Police contend the reports are public information, but Schempp argued that the reports aren’t really background checks because they include any contact with police, such as a call for help or a complaint, as well as criminal convictions.
Schempp said he knows of people who were denied housing because of the reports even though those individuals didn’t have a criminal history.
Council members John Rowell and Jeff Frider urged Schempp to provide the council with details of specific instances. Rowell said that if landlords actually are denying people housing simply because they’ve called police for help or to make a complaint, the council needs to know about it.
Police Chief Grant Weyland has said he isn’t aware of any such incidents.
The council plans to approve a community development block grant housing and community development action plan for 2001 at its meeting Monday.
Council members anticipate the city will have $614,558 for projects including single-family home rehabilitation, rental housing rehabilitation and development, housing code enforcement, slum and blight removal, community policing, recreation programs, home buyer and tenant education and home down-payment assistance.