Sinclair Community College is the only public institution of higher learning in Ohio that has zero debt.

They also have no student housing. In fact, state law prohibits 2-year schools from being in the housing business. And, while we have plenty of vacant homes in the city that can be bought dirt cheap (I just ran into a realtor today who was checking out a house around the corner that’s listed for $36K), and a shrinking population, the city thinks it’s the taxpayers’ job to help fund a housing complex for students going to a school which we already subsidize through our taxes:

The city of Dayton has approved over $1 million in funds to purchase and demolish a downtown property for a proposed student housing project.

Dayton City Commission approved Wednesday an agreement for CityWide Development Corp. to acquire the Schwind Apartment Building, 25-27 S. Ludlow St. from the Montgomery County Land Reutilization Corp. for $255,000. It also approved $755,000 to help with asbestos removal and demolition of the building ahead of its planned redevelopment. The funds will be paid for through tax-exempt bonds issued through the Dayton and Montgomery County Port Authority.

Shelley Dickstein, assistant city manager for strategic planning, said substantial cleanup has taken place in the building to prepare it for demolition.

via City to buy downtown building for new student housing project – Dayton Business Journal.

We’re broke when it comes to raises for our employees. We closed our pools and can barely cut the grass because we have no money for amenities that make our city a desirable place to live, yet, we have money to help a developer build housing for college kids.

Once again, the people who we’ve elected to represent us, spend our money on special interests in the name of “economic development” instead of making sure we have adequate police protection or pick up leaves in the fall.