Neighborhoods

A group of 45 activists affiliated with Youngstown neighborhood revitalization groups traveled to this South Carolina city Saturday to confront the leadership of a company dealing in what they say are local predatory land contracts.

The group had ties to Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. and the Alliance for Congregational Transformation Influencing Our Neighborhoods.

It wanted to pressure Alex Szkaradek, CEO of Vision Property Management, and John Buerkert, the chief business development officer, into signing a community agreement that included provisions to protect current renters of Vision properties from eviction and bar Vision from buying other city properties, among other issues.

While not all land contracts are exploitative, many of the contracts linked to Vision Property Management target vulnerable renters, luring them into agreements where they believe they’re renting to own but are never given ownership of their home.

Impacted tenants often report paying mortgages far higher than their houses’ actual value.

According to Ian Beniston, executive director of YNDC who has been sparring with Vision Property for years and participated in the negotiation, the leadership of Vision refused to sign the agreement, prompting a walk out from the Youngstown group. To read the full story from The Vindicator, click here.

A protest group led by Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation and Alliance for Congregational Transformation Influencing Our Neighborhoods (ACTION) will travel to Columbia, South Carolina on Saturday to confront Alex Szkaradek, the CEO of Vision Property Management.

Szkaradek's company rents homes to individuals using predatory land contracts that result in tenants -- who rent the homes under the guise that they will one day own them -- paying far more for the homes than the contract led them to believe, often times resulting in their eviction from the property.

In addition to the predatory practices, many of the Vision Property homes are dilapidated and out of compliance with city code enforcement.  

The group from Youngstown will present Szkaradek with a list of demands, which includes financial restitution for neglecting his properties in the city. 

The team will return to Youngstown on Sunday afternoon. To read the full story from The Vindicator, click here. 

The leadership of Vision Property Management, a realty company dealing in land contracts that have been accused of being predatory, has refused to sign a community agreement proposed by members of ACTION and the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp.

The team will now attempt to confront the company's CEO, Alex Szkaradek at his home and will distribute fliers throughout the neighborhoods of the company's leadership featuring links to stories outlining Vision Property Management's practices. The team will also pass out fliers at Szkaradek's church. To read the full story from The Vindicator, click here. 

A group of volunteers led by ACTION and the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation departed for Columbia, South Carolina shortly after 4 a.m. on Saturday morning.

The 45-person team intends to confront the CEO of Vision Properties, a company that rents homes -- which are often dilapidated -- under predatory land contracts. To read the full story from The Vindicator, click here.

Monday, March 5, 2018

On Saturday, March 3, A.C.T.I.O.N. and a group of concerned citizens traveled to Columbia, South Carolina to deliver a list of complaints and demands to Vision Property Management, a purveyor of predatory land contracts.

Several participants on the trip have been victims of the predatory lending practices of Vision and have been evicted from Vision houses after making repairs to the homes and paying rent for several months. A group of negotiators met with Vision officials upon arriving in South Carolina and presented them with the community agreement (downloadable below) while the remainder of the group chanted and sang outside in support. Vision officials refused to sign the agreement as is and prompted a walk out from A.C.T.I.O.N. representatives. A full audio recording of the meeting can be heard here. After a refusal from Vision officials, ACTION and community members protested outside Vision’s offices and passed out flyers in the neighborhoods of Vision CEO Alex Szkaradek and Chief Business Development OfficerJonathon Buerkert. The trip ended with a march from a nearby park to Jonathon Buerkert’s neighborhood to protest and chant. The trip served as an example of activism that will continue to fight predatory land contract lending in Northeast Ohio and the City of Youngstown. 

Fresh Coast Communities and The Colony Youngstown are hosting over a dozen workshops from March to July across Youngstown to educate residents about nature-based approaches to manage stormwater, called “green infrastructure” and gather community input to prioritize designs and location.

The public input will inform Fresh Coast’s city-wide green infrastructure development plans which will be presented to Youngstown City Council for selection and approval later in 2018.

“We want to make sure these plans reflect the wisdom, vision, and priorities of Youngstown residents,” said April Mendez, president of Fresh Coast Communities. “We’ve been inspired by individuals stepping up to join our Youngstown Green Infrastructure Action Team and by the level of local engagement.” To read the full story from The Business Journal, click here. 

Thursday, March 8, 2018

The Produce Perks SNAP Double-Up program provides up to $10 per day in fresh fruits and vegetables to SNAP/EBT recipients at the Cornersburg Sparkle, located on S. Meridian Rd. in Youngstown. 

Since January 2018, Sparkle customers have redeemed 2,602 vouchers in the amount of $12,671.82 spent on produce. The goal of the program is to make fresh produce more accessible to residents of the Mahoning Valley who receive SNAP/EBT benefits. In addition to Cornersburg Sparkle, Produce Perks SNAP Double-Up is also available at Cultivate: A Co-op Cafe at 901 Elm Street and will be available throughout the summer at farmer's markets in Warren, Howland, and Youngstown.

To view the full PDF of the case study, click here. 

The number of concealed-carry weapon permits issued in the Mahoning Valley declined in 2017, Ohio Attorney General’s Office records show.

Those numbers also fell throughout Ohio. In 2017, the state issued 77,281 permits to carry a concealed weapon, down from 116,953 in 2016.

The trend carried through to Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties.

Mahoning County issued 1,992 permits in 2017, down from 2,840 in 2016; Trumbull County issued 949 permits in 2017, down from 1,469 in 2016; and Columbiana County issued 913 permits in 2017, down from 1,461 permits issued in 2016.

The pride on Pete Gabriel’s face was palpable as he vividly recounted the movement a popular parade he helped start four decades ago has made during its march forward.

“It began as a radio promotion on my morning show. It’s since blossomed and has a life of its own. What more could I ask?” Gabriel, a longtime area broadcaster, said, referring to the annual Mahoning Valley St. Patrick’s Day Parade, which he is credited for having started in January 1979 on his radio program. To read the full story from The Vindicator, click here. 

“Vision has no vision.”

That was one of the many chants local demonstrators hurled last weekend at the leadership of a company they accuse of predatory land contract practices when renting homes in Youngstown.

Elder Rose Carter, executive director of the Alliance for Congregational Transformation Influencing our Neighborhoods, and Ian Beniston, executive director of the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp., rallied nearly 50 people to travel to South Carolina to confront Vision Property Management.

They went with the hope they could convince the company’s CEO, Alex Szkaradek, and Jonathan Buerkert, the chief business development officer, to sign a “community agreement” that would, among other things, stop Vision from evicting occupants of its homes in Youngstown, stop the company from purchasing or leasing any other properties in the city, and convince it to reimburse YNDC nearly $4,000 for the demolition of a Vision property at 4010 Lemoyne Ave.

The leaders of ACTION and YNDC were realistic; they knew it wasn’t likely Vision Property leadership would sign the agreement – the day before the trip the company released a statement effectively saying it wouldn’t do so in the document’s form at the time – so they prepared specifically for that scenario.

If Vision leadership wouldn’t sign, then the ACTION and YNDC team planned to unleash a campaign of shame. First they’d shame the CEO at his church, then at his home, and then in his neighborhood.

Despite the skepticism, the group achieved one of the goals of the community agreement before leaving. In the days before the trip, Vision Property Management agreed to pay for the demolition of 4010 Lemoyne. It was one victory, though it was not enough to deter YNDC’s trip.

Armed with bullhorns, banners, fliers and an electronic keyboard, the team boarded a chartered bus at 4 a.m. of March 3 and drove 11 hours to Columbia, S.C.

The team was a grab bag of city dwellers who had been victims of Vision’s predatory practices and other locals who were allied with its cause.

For the team members, the hours of sitting and sleeping and staring out the bus windows came to an abrupt stop when the bus cut its engine; the moment it stopped, the demonstrators were out of their seats and filing out of the bus.

A negotiation team consisting of Carter, Beniston, Bobby Reynolds, the president of the Northeast Homeowners Association, and Pastor Jeff Stanford of Beulah Baptist Church on the South Side, went inside Vision Property Management’s headquarters to discuss the agreement with Buerkert.

After a brief prayer and a reading of the community agreement, Beniston asked Buerkert if they would sign the document.

“Not in its current form,” Buerkert said.

Beniston said they were there specifically for that purpose and ended the discussion.

Buerkert asked if there would be any dialog on the document.

“No dialog,” Beniston said. To read the full story from The Vindicator, click here.