Don’t drag feet on lead deal

There’s got to be a way to do this.

That’s what George Thomas, an attorney with the Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, says about Toledo finally crafting a lead ordinance that will both protect children from lead-contaminated properties and pass muster with the courts.

Mr. Thomas is right. And it is encouraging that proposals for a new Toledo lead-safe ordinance are on the table, finally.

A pair of key differences in those proposals stand in the way of moving forward, though.

The first sticking point is whether the city should wait until the court challenge over a previous version of a lead-safe law is resolved.

Both new versions of the ordinance address the legal issues a judge identified when she struck down the previous law.

Waiting out the appeals on the case could take years. And, as Councilman Rob Ludeman has said, it isn’t clear whether waiting is a good legal strategy, or just a preference of the Kapszukiewicz administration.

The delay has real human consequences.

Records from the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department show 100 children in Toledo have been identified with blood-lead concentrations of above 10 micrograms per deciliter ever since a common pleas court judge struck down the previous ordinance last year.

The second sticking point is whether inspectors will use dust wipes to check for the presence of lead.

Without dust wipes, there is really no point in inspecting. No inspector can spot lead in paint or dust with his or her naked eye.

To keep children safe, a lead-safe ordinance actually has to make it possible to identify the homes and day-care centers where children are exposed to lead. And this will require dust-wipe testing to check for the presence of lead.

Relying on visual inspections alone will not only mean Toledo’s ordinance will not protect children, it will ensure that the program is a huge waste of money and time.

A lead-safe ordinance that doesn’t effectively find the lead-contaminated properties would be irresponsible and immoral.

A compromise between the competing proposed lead ordinances is possible. More than that, it is urgently necessary. There’s got to be a way to do this.