A new piece of legislation from a Cincinnati City Council member could empower neighborhoods and help prevent or reduce some of the violence and blight that the region has seen in recent years.
Council member Greg Landsman said Monday that he will introduce legislation next week to re-establish the city’s “Safe and Clean” fund with a starting investment of $1,000,000 for place-based community projects. Neighborhoods could use the funds for things like security cameras, better lighting, signage and cleanup efforts, all of which contribute to lower criminal opportunities.
Landsman’s proposal includes $500,000 from the city; the other $500,000 would come from corporate donations, he said. More funding could be added in the future.
The councilman said during a press conference Monday that neighborhood groups, with whom he’d been collaborating on the proposal, are the ones who best know what their communities need to prosper. Those leaders will submit their plans to the city for the funds.
“This is an attempt to really empower those community groups, neighborhood leaders, that are coming together to build their own safety plans,” Landsman said. “They know their communities better than anybody. They know where the crime is happening, and they know what they need to stop it, to get crime and violence away from their children, their families, and out of their neighborhoods.”
Landsman also wants the city to provide training to neighborhood leaders so they can develop community safety plans.
“Research shows that the most effective way to achieve long-lasting crime reduction is to follow the lead of the communities most impacted, as they have the most nuanced and genuine understanding of what is needed to create change. Again and again, community leaders and residents expressed to Councilmember Landsman the need for the City to support community-led efforts –– financially, as well as by providing coordination, partnerships, and training,” a release from Landsman says.
Landsman’s proposal needs approval from all members of the Cincinnati City Council to pass.
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This article appears in Jul 21 – Aug 4, 2021.