All Power to the People

I am extremely pleased that our neighbors at Liberty Village responded to the call to come to the Monday night Special Meeting called by Mayor Mapp regarding the danger of the PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) agreement for the complex not being extended to the new prospective buyers. Dozens of residents came out to ensure that the people they elected to represent them did the right thing. Those who had voted "NO" changed their vote to "YES" to the resolution. Aside from much overblown, silly rhetoric and hand-wringing about assurances, they voted for the exact same resolution they had been asked to consider last month.

I am glad that the residents were able to go home and rest easy, knowing that their homes were secure from the predations of those who would willfully endanger them for the sake of politics. A flier I had made and distributed within the complex was characterized by some of the councilors (those who had voted "NO") as "nasty"--laughable. It was a letter, which I signed, highlighting the urgency of the situation--you can see exactly what I wrote for yourself--you be the judge--click here. It wasn't a scurrilous piece of trash, such as the mailing Jerry Green sent this past weekend (the subject of another post--click here). 

When we took a brief break after the vote, some of the residents who had received my letter thanked me for it, and were confused as to what appointed Councilwoman Taylor was even talking about! They thought it was a nice letter that showed true concern for them. Oh, well, it's political season--many of these residents said that Taylor's comments were ludicrous.  It is clear that she was playing to a perceived audience for the public access channel. Even as she was speaking, the residents (some of whom had the letter with them) were shaking their heads in disbelief--there goes Taylor's already-diminished credibility! 

I also was offended by the commentary of Reid and Greaves--in effect, suggesting that the community folks at Liberty Village were responsible for the past problems at the complex--deflecting the responsibility of those elected to serve them. How can you make the people culpable for your own lack of interest in seeing how your constituents are doing, and in avoiding any attempts to help them?

I am happy that public pressure, in the form of those residents, convinced the other councilors to change their votes to yes. As I said at the meeting, I hope that folks will come out to more meetings to hold us all accountable for our votes. Score one for our neighbors at Liberty Village!

All best,

Rebecca