Monday, October 19, 2009

Wrong Rex

The City Paper's anonymous gossip creates some mud for slinging but doesn't have the facts to back it up.

Seems Mrs. Michael Craddock dared to get a job with a land developer her husband, as Metro Councilman, worked with during the development of the Home Depot in Inglewood. According to the CP Gossip: "Craddock backed the development because it meant job creation," Wrong Rex.

From my fist person observation Craddock backed it because the neighbors backed it. They had two hard choices and chose Home Depot as the lesser of two evils. One choice being an apartment complex guaranteed to house a transient population. The other a stable, accountable corporate entity with a remarkable business record. Which would you choose to live next to?

Regarding the destruction of Evergreen I never heard Craddock say Evergreen had to go. The destruction of that historic property was the end of a long and convoluted story. All of us working on preserving it and working with the developer clearly understood we didn't own the property and Moore did. Clearly Moore was not going to preserve the property. Clearly we were stuck with Home Depot. What I saw was Craddock ensuring that the neighbors were heard, that their concerns were addressed, that Home Depot didn't just throw up a concrete box with day laborers haunting the entrance and that they preserved the two historic cabins that had not been razed.

Kudos on finding work at all Mrs. Craddock. I'm in the hunt myself and have put the word out and completely understand 'any port in a storm'. Considering Mr. Craddock's position it'd be hard to find any employer that didn't have some connection to Metro government, the council, or Craddock's real estate business. Should she have recused herself from all those potential employers? I wouldn't ask her to.

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