Heights Chapter of the League of Women Voters Cuyahoga Area
Annual Spring Meeting 2008

Thursday, June 12, 2008, 7:15 pm
Cleveland Heights City Hall Council Chambers

The evening’s agenda:

7:15 pm — Refreshments, chapter meeting,

8:00 pm — Program:  

Foreclosures in the Heights: City and Community Action

Speakers:
Rick Wagner, Manager, Housing Programs, City of Cleveland Heights
Kathryn Lad, Executive Director, Home Repair Resource Center

Presentations followed by questions and answers

The public is welcome to attend both the preliminary chapter gathering and meeting as well as the program, which will begin around 8:00 pm.

More about the Program:

Neighborhood blight, home values, lost tax revenues and city services, copper thievery — the housing crisis and resulting rampant foreclosure rates affect everyone.  The city of Cleveland has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country. The crisis has been moving outward into Cleveland suburbs, affecting Cleveland Heights for a number of years and now moving into University Heights and beyond.  All communities need to address this problem aggressively.

How is City Hall and the community confronting this problem? Come and hear what our two speakers, who work closely with the issue, have to say.

Mr. Wagner, dubbed by many as a “walking encyclopedia” on foreclosure and housing issues, has been Housing Programs Manager for the City of Cleveland Heights since 1998, directing the operations of both the City’s Housing Inspection Department and Housing Preservation Office.  In this capacity, he oversees the administration of federal funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Development for grant and loan programs offered by the City. Working with the First Suburb Consortium, he was instrumental in forging a partnership between the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) and the suburbs for maintaining relations with CMHA’s Housing Choice Voucher Program. He has also contributed to the County's Lead Safe Renovation program. Mr. Wagner is certified by the International Code Council in the International Property Maintenance Code and the Lead Safe Renovation requirements.

Ms. Lad, a Heights homeowner, moved to Cleveland Heights from Southeast Ohio in 2006 to take her present position at HRRC.  She actually began her career in the Cleveland area, and specifically in Cleveland Heights, as a retail manager and buyer.  In 1987, she moved into non-profit work, which has become a life-long passion.  She is, of course, committed to the mission of HRRC, which empowers Cleveland Heights residents to keep their homes in good repair and in turn builds a strong community to support our diversity.

Over the years and especially in addressing the current housing crisis, the City and HRRC have collaborated extensively on housing issues in Cleveland Heights.

KNOW YOUR LEAGUE