20 November 2023
TOPEKA (KSNT) – People in the community gathered at the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library for the first Topeka Tenants meeting.
Renting can be frustrating for some at times. Whether it be air conditioning, plumbing, or a broken appliance, chances are, if you rent, you’ve had to get something fixed at one point in time or another. For some, that fix might have been easier than for others. So, Sunday night’s inaugural Topeka Tenants meeting was made for the people who’ve had a frustrating experience with their landlords and to identify problems and come up with solutions.
“A lot of us, we talked about safety, affordability and getting the city to really enforce some of the codes that we do have that apply to these slumlords and kind of stop the greed before it starts,” Topeka Tenants organizer Cassie Martin said.
“As someone to represent people, any of us on the council are able to do our job better when people have come together and when they’ll speak up,” District 1 Councilwoman Karen Hiller said.
Martin tells 27 News they plan on talking about demands they want to see, and what they want the city to take action on for the next meeting
There’s no exact date set for the next Topeka Tenants meeting, but Martin says when that day is set, they plan to announce it on Facebook.