“Vision has no vision.”
That was one of the many chants local demonstrators hurled last weekend at the leadership of a company they accuse of predatory land contract practices when renting homes in Youngstown.
Elder Rose Carter, executive director of the Alliance for Congregational Transformation Influencing our Neighborhoods, and Ian Beniston, executive director of the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp., rallied nearly 50 people to travel to South Carolina to confront Vision Property Management.
They went with the hope they could convince the company’s CEO, Alex Szkaradek, and Jonathan Buerkert, the chief business development officer, to sign a “community agreement” that would, among other things, stop Vision from evicting occupants of its homes in Youngstown, stop the company from purchasing or leasing any other properties in the city, and convince it to reimburse YNDC nearly $4,000 for the demolition of a Vision property at 4010 Lemoyne Ave.
The leaders of ACTION and YNDC were realistic; they knew it wasn’t likely Vision Property leadership would sign the agreement – the day before the trip the company released a statement effectively saying it wouldn’t do so in the document’s form at the time – so they prepared specifically for that scenario.
If Vision leadership wouldn’t sign, then the ACTION and YNDC team planned to unleash a campaign of shame. First they’d shame the CEO at his church, then at his home, and then in his neighborhood.
Despite the skepticism, the group achieved one of the goals of the community agreement before leaving. In the days before the trip, Vision Property Management agreed to pay for the demolition of 4010 Lemoyne. It was one victory, though it was not enough to deter YNDC’s trip.
Armed with bullhorns, banners, fliers and an electronic keyboard, the team boarded a chartered bus at 4 a.m. of March 3 and drove 11 hours to Columbia, S.C.
The team was a grab bag of city dwellers who had been victims of Vision’s predatory practices and other locals who were allied with its cause.
For the team members, the hours of sitting and sleeping and staring out the bus windows came to an abrupt stop when the bus cut its engine; the moment it stopped, the demonstrators were out of their seats and filing out of the bus.
A negotiation team consisting of Carter, Beniston, Bobby Reynolds, the president of the Northeast Homeowners Association, and Pastor Jeff Stanford of Beulah Baptist Church on the South Side, went inside Vision Property Management’s headquarters to discuss the agreement with Buerkert.
After a brief prayer and a reading of the community agreement, Beniston asked Buerkert if they would sign the document.
“Not in its current form,” Buerkert said.
Beniston said they were there specifically for that purpose and ended the discussion.
Buerkert asked if there would be any dialog on the document.
“No dialog,” Beniston said. To read the full story from The Vindicator, click here.
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