Portage Township, 'We Make Indiana' team up on new housing task force

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Portage Township announced a new task force focused on housing equality and landlord accountability.

The situations of some South Bend tenants, such as what ABC57 reported in "Chaos at Karl King," prompted Portage Township Trustee Jason Critchlow to make housing a top priority.

It also created a push for change by the local faith-based activist group, "We Make Indiana," which partnered with Portage Township on the new task force.

One major problem is a lack of accountability: housing advocates claim that the fines imposed on landlords do not adequately protect tenants living in poor conditions.

"We've put together this housing task force to basically research and dive into the issue of housing equality. But not just talk about it, not just research it. We're going to actually go visit other communities. We're going to go to Hammond, we're going to go to Bloomington, and Elkhart; we already got them lined up," Critchlow said. "We're going to go and meet with city officials, activist groups, tenants, landlords, and just find out what's going on the ground in their communities. What works? What doesn't?"

The task force will then put together its findings in a report, which will serve as policy recommendations for the South Bend Common Council to consider.

"We've got involvement from Portage Township, 'We Make Indiana,' but also some city councilmembers are a part of it, some landlords, some tenants are a part of it," Critchlow said. "So, we're really going to make sure everyone has a seat at the table."

Critchlow told ABC57 the task force is moving fast and expects to have its final report ready to present to the common council this October.

"We've already been doing this work this year; this isn't just lip service. This is action-oriented," Critchlow said.