By Dawn Scotland
The Truth Reporter
The Greater Toledo Realtist Association, in partnership with The Fair Housing Center, the Lucas County Chapter of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus, and the Black Contractors Association of Toledo, hosted the Political Advocacy Day: Housing Talk on Thursday, April 16 at Kent Branch Library as a part of the GTRA’s 2026 Realtist Week.
The free public event focused on housing and neighborhood stability, including affordability, housing conditions, tenant concerns, code enforcement, vacancy, landlord accountability, contractor participation and the impact of public safety on neighborhoods.
The town hall featured key public officials in a robust conversation engaging city, state, county and other local officials across sectors and political lines including Toledo City Council, the Office of the Lucas County Auditor, the Office of the Lucas County Recorder, the Office of the Lucas County Treasurer, the Lucas County Board of Commissioners, Toledo Public Schools, the Toledo Police Department, the Ohio House of Representatives, and the Ohio Senate.
“We wanted to talk to the people who make the decisions,” said GTRA President De’Lisa Moore, “we wanted to bring them in the room to talk about [these important issues.] We just wanted answers. We have community members that we work with [in our professions] and we hear their issues firsthand everyday about rental issues, transient students and outside investors… Being able to have the different officials there to have these conversations is very important,” she said.
Panelists for the event included:
- City Council President Vanice Williams
- City of Toledo Housing Program Manager Steven Powell
- Commissioner Lisa Sobecki
- Councilman George Sarantou
- Councilwoman Dr. Brittany Jones
- Lucas County Auditor Katie Moline
- Lucas County Recorder Michael Ashford
- Lucas County Treasurer Lindsey Webb
- State Representative Elgin Rogers
- State Representative Josh Williams
- State Senator Paula Hicks-Hudson
- Toledo Police Chief Michael Troendle
The event was hosted by Greater Toledo Realtist Association Seargent at Arms Blair Johnson and moderated by Chris Scott. The community was encouraged to submit questions that were presented to the panel of decision makers. The group received about 40 submissions online and more questions at the event.
“We wanted to make sure it was a conversation,” said Blair Johnson who spearheaded the event, “we set the tone that it wasn’t a debate or a time to campaign. We wanted an environment that was both effective and comfortable. We received a lot of great feedback,” he shared.
He emphasized the spirit of cooperation and collaboration in the room. “All of the elected officials that were there wanted to be there. They were asked and they didn’t hesitate to say yes,” he stated.
Questions presented to the panel included such questions as:
- Where does Toledo stand in terms of affordable housing relative to local wages?
- What programs and protections exist to keep seniors in their homes?
- What pathways actually exist currently to put people on the pathway to homeownership in Lucas County?
- How is the city addressing concerns that some neighborhoods feel overlooked when it comes to housing investment?
- How can Toledo bring its 14,000+ abandoned properties back into productive use through partnerships, redevelopment, and community based strategies instead of relying mainly on demolition?
Refreshments were provided by Frogtown Financial and Pay it Forward UToledo.
The GTRA is planning to host this event again in the future. To learn more about the organization visit their website at toledorealtists.org or their social media pages @ToledoRealtist.
The GTRA hosts a general body meeting at Tolhouse every third Tuesday at 6 p.m.