Winburn: More Power Than HUD?

Charlie Winburn, to no one's surprise, revved up the audience at the POWR PAC event Monday night like a preacher does his flock, vowing to make new city law that would send landlords to jail if they let convicted felons stay in Section 8 properties and if they don't force Section 8 tenants to go to work.

People in the crowd muttered that he must have forgotten that Section 8 rules are pretty much set by the federal government. But they were enjoying the speechifying anyway - Section 8 and the increase of it is a huge topic on the West Side.

Winburn said he has his lawyers researching Cincinnati Municipal Code section 740-11 and said it "forces landlords to take Section 8." His law, as he proposed it Monday night standing on a box covered with a rug in the side room at Price Hill Chili, would prohibit convicted felons from getting Section 8 vouches, would force Section 8 recipients to go to work and would limit people from staying on Section 8 for more than 3 to 5 years at a time.


Here's what that code actually says:

Sec. 740-11. Discrimination Against Government Housing Allowance Recipients Forbidden.
It is unlawful for owners of residential rental units or their agents to refuse to rent a vacant dwelling unit, to evict any person or otherwise discriminate in the terms of tenancy solely because a tenant or prospective tenant is a holder of a Certificate of Family Participation under the Section 8 Existing Housing Program of the Housing and Community for Development Act of 1974, as amended, or is a recipient of any other government housing allowance program.(Ordained by Ord. No. 238-1990, eff. June 4, 1990; a. Ord. 299-1992, eff. Aug. 17, 1992; a. Ord. No. 268-1999, eff. June 23, 1999)