CUFA works to stop high sewer bills and sewage overflows

 CUFA members are concerned with high sewer bills and are worried about water and raw sewage in their basements.

The Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) is spending $3.2 billion on Project Groundwork. This project is designed to stop sewage overflows and clean up our rivers and streams. Hamilton County's sewer system is almost 100 years old, and it is not engineered to meet the needs of our increased population. The sewage overflows are in violation of the Clean Water Act. 

When CUFA met with MSD on December 3, 2013 they told us that only 11 of the 159 combined sewage overflows have been fixed since Project Groundwork began in 2006.

Even though the problem still isn't fixed, our bills have increased 17% just in the last two years! Rates are expected to continue to rise.

Where is our money going? What progress is being made?

CUFA is moving forward with this issue. We want to know where our money is going and how our health is being protected. If you think enough is enough, sign our petition!! Or print your own petition for yourself and neighbors to sign.

Questions? Contact CUFA at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 513-853-3947.

CUFA Meets with US Congressman Steve Chabot

On June 3rd US Congressman Steve Chabot met at CUFA’s offices to discuss our concerns about foreclosures, high sewer bills and sewerage overflows.

On Tuesday, CUFA met with Representative Steve Chabot in South Cumminsville to present information about the issues that impact our lives. Local leaders addressed issues surrounding the Metropolitan Sewer District such as sewerage overflows in our basements and the resulting increasing sewer bills. We also brought up CUFA's local win with the Vacant Foreclosed Property Ordinance and the need to continue providing relief to homeowners in order to prevent foreclosures.

As a result of our meeting, Rep. Chabot committed to:

1. Send a letter to Mel Watt, Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, supporting principal reduction in order to end the foreclosure crisis
2. Include CUFA’s suggestions to hire local workers to clean up Hamilton County’s Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs)

Rep. Chabot is co-author of HR2707 which seeks to reduce the cost of cleaning up CSOs by implementing local solutions. We are glad to hear that his proposed legislation should bring down our sewer bills.

Thank you to all who attended or spoke! Check out more pictures from the meeting on our Facebook page.

Expansion of Vacant Foreclosed Property Plan to All 52 Neighborhoods

Victory for CUFA!

Program requires lenders to register and maintain property

P.G. Sittenfeld states potential fees and fines could be a revenue generator.

For over a year, CUFA’s has been pushing for the expansion of the Vacant Foreclosed Property Program from the 5 pilot neighborhoods to all 52 neighborhoods in the City of Cincinnati. On Wednesday, March 11th, city council finally approved the expansion and now YOUR neighborhood has the power to hold banks accountable for vacant foreclosed properties that they are neglecting!

Council member PG Sittenfeld stated that the program has registered 267 of the 293 confirmed vacant properties in the 5 targeted city neighborhoods and so far the program has generated $133,000 in fees, and $106,000 in fines.  According to Sittenfeld, 88% of the homes in the pilot program have been improved or stabilized. Sittenfeld stated that this program is not only benefiting those communities, but the expansion could be a revenue generator for the city.

For more coverage on this expanded program, click on the news links below.

http://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/cincinnati-set-to-expand-vacant-foreclosed-property-plan

http://www.wlwt.com/news/vacant-foreclosed-property-registration-could-become-cincinnati-ordinance/24939202

For information on how to hold banks accountable and report a neglected vacant property, follow the link below. The tool allows you to look up a property by neighborhood or individual address to see if it has been registered with the city. If it has been registered, you can report problems that violate the standards set by the ordinance and keep your neighborhood safe!

http://cagismaps.hamilton-co.org/cincinnatiServices/VacantForeclosedRegistration/ 

Insight from Xavier University Student Intern

Read insights on community organizing from Genevieve Hager,

a CUFA summer intern from Xavier University.

Viewing and doing the impossible.

My grandfather once told my mother, "if it's impossible, it will just take a little longer to accomplish."

I hold this quote close to my heart not only because it was my grandfather who said it, but also because it has allowed me to do many things I never imagined myself doing.

This summer I received the privilege to be a Summer Service Intern and to work with Communities United for Action (CUFA), a multi-issue, grassroots group that believes in the power of people to change communities positively. My job was primarily door-knocking. I'll be honest, I didn't know what I was getting myself into when I showed up in May, but I was excited to see what the summer would hold.  I was blessed with twenty new friends, a new love for social justice, and a work experience that has entirely changed my future.

While door-knocking is not the dream job of many, (if anyone at all), it is a job that I grew to love. Every day I knocked upon the door of someone who was experiencing racism, classism, prejudice, discrimination, homelessness or poverty, and they were willing to share with me how those injustices were impacting their lives.

The knowledge that our culture has grown to accept the oppression of certain groups within our society is not something that can be erased from my memory. This piece of knowledge has stuck with me, and made me contemplate why I was given the privilege when there are others suffering.

When I learned this, I thought, along with may of the other interns, "what can we do now?" We ended many of our conversations with a negative conclusion, with no real solid solutions, and little hope for the future. As I learned through working with CUFA, community organizing is the way to enact structural changes within our society. The changes you see through this work are very different from ones you would see through direct services. This work leads to building a more sustainable future for ourselves, and right now, I belive that is what we need most.

Another lesson I had the unfortunate experience to learn is the statement that "alone, we are powerless..." The places in our society that power is really important and those who hold it can make a difference, one person will not make an impact. It is easy for young college students to boast and say, "I'm going to change the world", as I once did.  However, there is often little college students can truly do, except continuously imagine a better future.

Now, let me finish that statement above, "alone, we are powerless, but together, we can change the world." It is not enough to act alone; we must work together to change this world for the better. When I reflect back on this summer I can see now that every intern thought on their first day that the job they would be doing was impossible. All of us felt as though we weren't qualified enough to do the work we had been chosen to do. We all felt as though we were being tossed into the ocean, me especially. Community organizing? What's that? Door knocking? How am I suppose to do that? What am I suppose to say? How can I not make this awkward? Time was my only solution. I just had to do it until I figured it out and we gradually settled into routines that helped us grow each week and do even better work.

I never thought that I would know how to or be good at door-knocking. It seemed impossible, but it just took time.

I never thought I would love community organizing as much as I do. I never thought that it would impact me so greatly. But is has, and I am grateful.

It may seem impossible that within our lifetimes we will see any great changes within our society. But if I've learned anything over the summer it's that changes through community organizing take a while. Some campaigns take years, but it is not impossible.

I'll leave you with a quote I stumbled upon this summer. While I've said that we are powerless alone, don't ever doubt your ability to be the initiator of change. Don't ever think that just because you are only one person it won't be any good. Every change starts with just one person, and every little bit counts.

"I always wondered why somebody didn't do something about that ... then I realized, I am somebody!" - Lily Tomlin

http://dorothydaycfj.wordpress.com/2013/09/06/viewing-and-doing-the-impossible/

CUFA Sponsored through the Charity Cincy Golf Ball Drop!

Buy a chance to win $10,000!!  Support CUFA through the Cincy Charity Golf Ball Drop when Lucy the Pelican will drop 100,000 wiffle balls onto the UC Nippert Stadium! Five dollars can enter you to win $10,000 and a chance to win the grand prize of $1 million!  CUFA's goal is to raise $6,000 and we need your help! When purchasing online, please choose our partner organization, Working in Neighborhoods as your existing team. CUFA will receive all $5.00 donated.   

Visit http://golfballdrop.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.team&teamID=5010 and donate now!

Join CUFA to Get Government and Business to Invest In People

Are you worried about the cuts to our health clinics?  Are you concerned about city council's cuts to swimming pools and recreation centers?  Join CUFA on Thursday, August 11 to tell them to INVEST IN US!  The meeting will be at 5:30 at Mother of Christ Church, 5301 Winneste, Winton Hills.

New CUFA Committee -- Invest in People

Ohio is one of the states hardest hit by the epidemic of foreclosure and joblessness caused by Wall Street. Our services and programs are being cut or reduced as a result of this crisis!Health clinics, Social Security, jobs, recreation centers, community development funds – all of these things are being cut at the federal, state, and local level.

To do something about it, join the new CUFA group! 

Next meeting is Thursday June 9th, 5:30 pm

Mother of Christ Church, Winton Hills

Get involved in the movement to keep the programs that keep ourcommunities going! Medicare, recreation centers, health clinics, pools, trash pick-up – what will they cut next?

Showdown in Ohio! CUFA tells Chase Bank to Fix Their Mess

On May 16, over thirty members of Communities United for Action traveled to Columbus to tell JPMorgan Chase shareholders, board members, and CEO that working families would no longer pay for the financial crisis created by Chase and other big banks. CUFA joined National People’s Action and other community groups and unions to build a vocal protest of 1,000 demonstrators outside Chase’s annual shareholders meeting. The rally commanded the attention of shareholders and media with towering 20ft banners and giant wooden puppets of Chase CEO Jamie Dimon. In a daring attempt to “steal from the rich, and give to the poor”, a group of demonstrators dressed as Robin Hood used a plywood bridge to cross a moat-like pond that surrounded the office building. Both county and city police armed with guard dogs and mace stopped the group as soon as they crossed onto the property.

In addition to the energetic display outside of the shareholders meeting, CUFA board member Mae Richardson and CUFA president Roger Davis addressed shareholders inside the meeting. The pair urged the company to make crucial changes to foreclosure and lending practices. Richardson told shareholders that Chase foreclosed on her family’s home and then abandoned the property without transferring ownership records. With her family still in legal possession of the house, Richardson was stuck with bills and fines from the city associated with the property that Chase had taken from her and then let fall into disrepair. Roger Davis also addressed shareholders during the meeting. Citing Chase’s foreclosure on 1,280 homes in Hamilton County since 2005, Davis said the foreclosures in Cincinnati made “ghost towns” out of neighborhoods. He urged bank leaders to modify mortgages and keep families in their homes. The Huffington Post interviewed both Richardson and Davis about their comments.

JPMorgan Chase and the Financial Meltdown

JPMorgan Chase directly contributed to the subprime mortgage scandal and the 2008 financial crisis that soon followed. JPMorgan Chase played a significant role by providing financing to the nation's two largest subprime lenders, Countrywide and Ameriquest; they gave the companies the capital needed to originate subprime mortgages. JPMorgan Chase was also heavily involved in buying and selling derivatives. Derivatives are a financial product that allows companies and consumers to bet on stocks, contracts, and importantly, subprime mortgages. The derivatives traded by JPMorgan Chase helped to spread and intensify the impact of the housing market collapse they financed. After the market collapse, JPMorgan Chase accepted taxpayer bailouts and backstops totaling $94.7 billion. Despite this, the company recovered fast, posting $17.4 billion in profits in 2010 and awarding its top executives almost $8.7 billion in bonuses.

JPMorgan Chase: Still Hurting Working Families

Unfortunately, JPMorgan Chase is not interested in investing its wealth back into the public. JPMorgan Chase has contributed to the “credit crunch” by decreasing their lending to small businesses. The company’s lending to small businesses fell by two-thirds between 2007 and 2009. JPMorgan Chase has also made it difficult for families to restructure their mortgages and avoid foreclosure. The bank started trial mortgage modifications for only 25% of its 417,341 borrowers who are eligible for the Obama Administration's Making Home Affordable Program. Chase has also been notorious for collecting payments during long trial modifications and then foreclosing on the property even in cases where the borrower makes all payments on time. This practice has made JPMorgan Chase the target of at least one lawsuit in San Francisco.

Instead of helping families avoid foreclosure or investing in small business, JPMorgan Chase has spent its taxpayer bailout lobbying against financial reform. The company has lobbied against the Consumer Overdraft Protection Fair Practices Act, the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act, the Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights Act of 2009, the Helping Families Save Their Homes in Bankruptcy Act, the Derivatives Trading Integrity Act, the Compensation Fairness Act, and financial services regulation in general. JPMorgan Chase is also part of the Financial Services Round Table, which worked to defeat the Employee Free Choice Act. The Employee Free Choice Act supports collective bargaining rights by ensuring that workers can exercise a free choice to form a union without interference or intimidation from management.

CUFA will continue to fight for fair lending practices and loan modifications through a new community action group called Invest in People. Invest in People is working to find new ways to balance the city and state budget without cutting funding to vital services such as mortgage counseling programs, health clinics, and recreation centers. To get involved, come to the Invest in People committee meeting on June 9th at 5:30pm at Mother of Christ Church in Winton Hills, or call CUFA’s office at 513-853-3947.

See below for more information from several different national news sources.