Victoria Jackson is determined to keep the people of Bond Hill involved in deciding the future of their community.
“We just want to make sure that we're relevant,” she said. “And we don't get forgot about, behind the shootings.”
Her desire to keep the community involved is one of the reasons Jackson supports a new motion proposed by Cincinnati Councilmember Greg Landsman, who hopes to address gun violence by investing in neighborhoods and putting community leaders front and center.
“This is an attempt to really empower those communities,” Landsman said. “They know their communities better than anybody. They know where the crime is happening. They know what they need to stop it.”
His motion would do several things, including updating data on crime hot spots, providing problem-solving crime data to community leaders and re-establishing the “Safe and Clean Fund,” which would improve Bond Hill's street lighting, clean-up efforts, cameras and signage.
A shooting in East Westwood in June that left an 8-year-old fighting for his life motivated Landsman to write the proposal, he said.
Rodney Christian, president of the East Westwood Community Council, said the proposal needed to happen.
“Young people got shot,” Christian said. “Young people got shot and our council had to stand up."
City Council still needs to approve Landman’s motion, which is also supported by councilmembers Wendell Young, Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney and Steve Goodin.
In an additional attempt to combat neighborhood violence, councilmembers Kearney and Liz Keating are requesting more than $2 million to build a Boys and Girls Club in the Villages of Roll Hill, which neighbors East Westwood. A portion of the funding was allocated to build the club back in 2017, but the project fell through.
Kearney and Keating are asking that the additional funds come from the city’s carryover budget. It won’t be clear if the money is available until later this year, and council will revisit the discussion this fall.
