October 20, 2005. Dayton Daily News.
DAYTON – Religious organizations have taken the LEAD to address quality-of-life issues in Dayton.
Leaders for Equality in Action in Dayton – or LEAD – draws representatives from 14 ecumenical organizations, churches and an Islamic center, to brainstorm about problems in Dayton, explore ways to fix them, then offer solutions and support to city officials who have the power to implement them.
“All of our congregations are aware of the needs people have, like food, shelter and clothing, and many have outreach groups to meet those needs,” said the Rev. John Paddock, co-president of LEAD and rector of Christ Episcopal Church.
“LEAD addresses longer range needs of equality and justice.”
Early in the year, LEAD members canvassed their congregations and the community to identify four issues to tackle in 2005:
* Creating opportunities for youths.
* Crime.
* Improving the reading skills of Dayton children.
* Forcing owners to fixup their property before a sale.
After months of research and studying Best Practices around the country, LEAD members are ready to go public with their findings.
On Monday, LEAD invites the community and city leaders to gather at 6:45 p.m. at Christ Episcopal Church, 20 W. First St., to hear a presentation on the issues and proposed solutions.
“So many issues are beyond us, decisions made in Washington, New York or some other place. There are things we can control. Let’s get on with it,” Paddock said.
He offered an overview of the LEAD recommendations:
* Battling crime with Hot Spot Cards. LEADS is working with the Dayton Police to make it easier to identify trouble, or hot spots, in neighborhoods such as drug houses, or vacant buildings that have become hangouts for vagrants or kids.
Residents simply fill out a Hot Spot Card, that would be made available around the city, and mail it to the LEAD office.
LEAD then passes the information on to the police.
* A proposed point-of-sale inspection ordinance would require owners to bring their property up to city housing code at the time of a sale.
“We want to work with the city to make sure houses meet certain codes at the point-of-sale,” Paddock said. “Housing titles are being transferred, but (the buildings are) never brought up to code. They just continue to deteriorate and deteriorate.”
* LEAD supports the city’s plans to hire a “youth czar” who would coordinate opportunities for young people in Dayton and on reducing youth violence. That person has not been hired, Paddock said.
“The city has missed several deadlines for hiring this coordinator. We believe a coordinator in this position could go a long way to help youths find appropriate opportunities, healthier opportunities,” he said. “We plan to ask city officials to make sure this person gets hired in a timely way, to know there is some pressure, but there also is support.”
* And, finally, LEAD has been looking at ways to improve the reading skills of Dayton children.
“We are working with (Dayton School Superintendent) Percy Mack and the Dayton School Board to try Best Practices and we’re continuing to monitor test scores,” Paddock said.
