It was uggglyyyy

I'm just back from Community Meeting #12 regarding the illegal quadplex at 837 Cleveland Street. It was very ugly. Briefly the property owner insisted quite loudly that it was going to be a single family home (which it's currently zoned for) or, as a result of the Council vote, a quadplex. Nothing else.

The end result was that the property owner insisted that CM Pam Murray (District 5-East Nashville) withdraw the rezoning bill. He even left the meeting, came back for his drawing of his proposed renovation of the exterior, and said it again when CM Murray offered to just defer it until a compromise could be reached. He was adamant--withdraw the bill. She said she'd do it Tuesday.

However, I double checked with her outside after the meeting and she said she was going to defer the bill until she got a formal letter from the property owner requesting withdrawal. She told me that requiring a letter was CM-at-Large Tim Garrett's suggestion.

It's not right that a neighborhood should have to fight their own representative in order to enforce the law. Constituents should not have to be disrespectful and shout in order to be heard by their representative. No representative should so provoke constituents by their actions that they have no other recourse. The neighbors may have won but trust may never be regained.

And that really was the bottom line. After years of defying the law the neighbors have absolutely no trust in Charles R. (Friday) Blackwood and he could not assure them he would try and earn it back.

See previous posts:
As Cleveland Street Turns
Guidelines or rules?
Firetrap shuttered
She Needs to Resign and Stay in Detroit
Pam's Loss Neighborhood's Gain