Reentry Housing in Champaign Followup

At last Tuesday's City of Champaign Study Session of the City Council, the reentry housing issue was raised during public participation (a full write up of the meeting is here and video here). This is following up on the preview of that discussion at the City Council meeting here: Reentry Housing Issue. The News-Gazette had a couple articles following up on the meeting. From Wednesday:

Residents, landlords weigh in on housing code at Champaign council meeting
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Those who have been to prison told the council that they've experienced landlords who automatically reject rental candidates if they have a criminal background. Some landlords and property owners then acknowledged that that sometimes happens, especially among big companies.

However, the landlords and property owners argued, city code allows them to further ask a candidate about their criminal record without the fear of being reprimanded.

"I had a person who just came out of jail, and I rented to them," said Janice Vidovic, a property manager and realtor in Champaign. "That was my choice, because Champaign allows us to ask."

The council hasn't formally discussed the issue in a public meeting, but several council members said Tuesday night that they'd like to put it on the agenda. The council has the option to repeal or modify the code's language.

An online petition urging the council to remove Section 17-4.5 was set up by CU Indivisible and Bend the Arc: CU.

And both the Champaign County Board and Racial Justice Task Force have formally encouraged the city to repeal the code.

Full article from Wednesday here. And the News-Gazette also had a little bit more yesterday:

Citizens and Champaign City Council members divided over city code
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From here, Stock said he would like to start over and discuss the petition more thoroughly and deliberately.

He said there's likely not enough council support for repealing the section only, but modifying it is on the table.

"There's going to have to be a compromise," he said. "I've always felt that the five years part was too long."

Other council members said Tuesday that they're also open to modification discussion.

Those who have voiced objection to Section 17-4.5, including members of the FirstFollowers re-entry program, note how barriers to housing can lead to recidivism, disproportionately affect African-Americans and enable a "lifetime sentence" treatment.

Local landlords and property owners have said the section allows them to further ask about an applicant's criminal background without fear of being reprimanded.

That full article is available here.