Blight committee ponders razing sound structures --

[iloveionia]

The properties PSOS owned were all marred with hundreds of thousands of dollars of rolling fines and approximately 50k in back taxes.  The "sale" of our donated properties garnered zero funds to PSOS, as a matter of fact we LOST money, considering with mothballed and maintained the properties at virtually our own personal expense. (We did receive volunteer hours at one property from the community, and one homeowner who donated provided funds to secure the house mothball style.) That approximate 50k in back taxes? Went to the city of Jacksonville. $50,000 back to the city!!!!! With the exception of our first donated home (lesson learned) each home's transfer required the back and current taxes to be paid and that was to the tune of $50,000 (approximate.)

When you have nothing else (blight committee) you attack individuals and behave badly as is being exemplified here.

Save the houses. Protect our communities. Act sustainably. Act rationally.

[sheclown]

Cresembeni wants info on PSOS. Said he couldn't find any info on us.  Questions our legitimacy

[iloveionia]

Lol. A few swipes on Google would cover that.
Watch the news much?
Read the paper?
Read your email?
That's funny stuff.
A whole bunch of reaching.

Recognized 501 (c) (3) since 2010.
www.preservationsos.org

The issue boils down to folks are fighting back and offering nothing but sensibility.  That it not liked (clearly.)

[sheclown]

The lack of citizen involvement in Jacksonville isn't the fault of the citizenry

[iloveionia]

Correct Stephen.

PSOS has no funding source.
Predominately our own checkbooks and personal time have saved these houses. THOUSANDS of dollars and THOUsANdS of hours of sacrifice and dedication from passionate folks. Passionate about saving houses.

Correct on MetroNorth. That didn't work for a few reasons, one being the dislike for a road down the middle of the court to allow for parking.

[whislert]

Item 3 was actually a report on the City's plan to purchase surveillance cameras for SJO and Public Works; SJO for covert surveillance of public/private spaces for crime prevention and Public Works for notorious dumping sites. The cameras are expected to cost $7K to $27K depending on their stealth (i.e., infrared vs. visible spectrum recording) and hard targeting features (i.e., able to withstand AK-47 rounds).  Notably the entire presentation focused on probable cost and deployment tactics with merely a nod to potential privacy concerns. Lacking was any discussion of data retention protocols, status of incidental recording of private personal activity, etc.  In what I'm coming to see as true JAX fashion, the impetus is to wade into controversial issues with virtually no policy consideration ahead of time.  The "hush hush" sensitivity shrouding the discussion of this plan was so thick that one Council member opined that it might be unwise to even ask about cost of the program or the size of the drug impound account that is being proposed to finance SJO's intended program of deploying 6-10 cameras at "undisclosed locations."

Oh, but really I was there to suggest that the "Demolitions Build Better Neighbors" Ordinance might be logically flawed. Can I get an Amen! Oy, I'm exhausted.

[strider]

We can complain about MS Lee, but in the many years I have seen her performances, it has not changed.  Ms Lee cares only about Ms Lee, all her rhetoric aside. She performed exactly like we all should have expected.

She did not want sensible arguments against her bill and she did everything in her power to try to at least lessen any impact those arguments may have had on her fellow council members and the public.  One of her tactics was indeed the interruptions and the long, drawn out comments.

Ms Lee emphatically stated that there will be demolitions and that this bill will be passed.  I suspect she has that confidence because the Mayor's office is for this 100%. We need to be asking why the Mayor wants this and who will profit from it.

It was obvious from the personal attack on Ms Pryor that there was a concerted effort on the part of someone to try to make sure PSOS was discredited. Mr Crescimbeni was obviously trying to confirm or prove false information provided to him by someone.  It would indeed be interesting to know who fed the councilman that info.  It would not surprise me if it had been the Mayor's office.

While Ms Lee did not allow the time to have Mr Teal give his presentation, from the agenda items, his intent was to discuss definitions, conflicts with historic mothballing ordinance, conflict with state statues concerning property rights and possible solutions to avoid legal challenges.  It sounds to me that this ordinance as currently presented is not legally enforceable. It will be interesting to see the "solutions" Mr. Teal comes up with.

Mr. Brown made the statement that he sees no difference between a blighted non-historic house and a historic one.  This is the first public indication that this committee or at least some on it, all their denials aside, knew they were indeed including Landmarks and Historic Districts. We know MCC certainly would be for it and Ms Lee is a strong supporter and friend of Ms Scott, who we also know believes in demolition as the best solution.

I do want to state that one of the newer SPAR board members informed me that SPAR did indeed send out an official statement saying that the organization did not support this ordinance.  I will temper that with the fact that I know a few of the board members do indeed support demolitions as a solution to these kinds of issues and so I suspect the Council is getting a few mixed messages from SPAR.

Overall, Kay's presentation went well - past the Lee issue.  I would like to say that many here on MJ gave input for the presentation and Kay did great presenting it - even though she was a bit nervous about it. Once she got started, she was really into it, even with Ms Lees extreme rudeness.  I know that some, like Ms Boyer and Mr Love, certainly got it and so I for one have some hope it made enough of an impact that a few council members will question this ordinance and the wisdom of demolishing the housing stock in the older urban and early suburban areas. 

But it will not stop it if I am right that the Mayor wants it and wants it enough to expend political capital to get it.  There is indeed a long road ahead of us if we are to change the rhetoric from this Mayor's office to one of actually helping communities rather than destroying them.

[Kay]

So Crescimbini hasn't filed for re election in 2015.

Denise is term limited out.

Jones is Term Limited out

Reginald Brown is running for re election.

City Council District 10   Reginald Brown ( Active- Filed)   DEM   $8,000.00      
City Council District 10   Patricia Gee-Jones ( Active- Filed)   DEM   $299.00
City Council District 10   Celestine Mills ( Active- Filed)   DEM   

Might be time to find out the positions of Patricia Gee Jones and Celestine Mills, and if they are more in line with sensible policy, Im sure that they would appreciate a campaign donation.      

The election is in May of 2015.  Kay how long after the election until the new council would take its seat?  isn't it like 60 days?

Its August now, so in 8 months the people driving this will not be in office.

Sounds like its time for an injunction until the feds can sort this out.

New Council is effective July 1, 2015.  I believe Crescimbeni was asking Kim questions to give her the opportunity to put the facts and truth out there to counter balance what Brown was saying. 

[JaxUnicorn]

New Councas is effective July 1, 2015.  I believe Crescimbeni was asking Kim questions to give her the opportunity to put the facts and truth out there to counter balance what Brown was saying.

Kay, you are wrong about Cresembeni. If that's what he was doing he would not have asked me how many properties I owned. And when I asked him why he was asking he would not have said "this is how this works - I ask the questions, you answer."  I believe he along with Brown were trying to discredit me, what I was saying, as well as my organization (PSOS). The way Brown and Cresembeni treated me yesterday was unprofessional, unethical, and inappropriate.

[sheclown]

The Historic Preservation Commission composed and sent this email to the city council.  In its five pages are one thoughtful argument after another against the wholesale demolitions which the city intends to execute with this new ordinance.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B0OhEo0Cpul2YWJJdXNIaFZPTFk/edit

I am very grateful to the commission for taking such a strong and thoughtful position against demolition.

[fieldafm]

The callous, wholsale destruction of housing stock has not worked anywhere else, so why is Jacksonville any different?



What's really perplexing is that the same thing happened in Jax already. Mixontown and La Villa aren't any more revitalized decades later.

[Kay]

New Councas is effective July 1, 2015.  I believe Crescimbeni was asking Kim questions to give her the opportunity to put the facts and truth out there to counter balance what Brown was saying.

Kay, you are wrong about Cresembeni. If that's what he was doing he would not have asked me how many properties I owned. And when I asked him why he was asking he would not have said "this is how this works - I ask the questions, you answer."  I believe he along with Brown were trying to discredit me, what I was saying, as well as my organization (PSOS). The way Brown and Cresembeni treated me yesterday was unprofessional, unethical, and inappropriate.

Kim,  I've know John for quite a while.  How can you be sure you aren't wrong?  You and I are going to disagree on his intent obviously.  I to agree that Brown was way out of line.

[Kay]

The callous, wholsale destruction of housing stock has not worked anywhere else, so why is Jacksonville any different?



What's really perplexing is that the same thing happened in Jax already. Mixontown and La Villa aren't any more revitalized decades later.

Field:  What is this a photo of? 

[thelakelander]

What was CM Lee's response to economic statistics in Kay's presentation?

[Kay]

She appeared to totally disregard the presentation.  Although she did seem to take offense to the data showing all the demolitions and vacant parcels are in Districts 7, 8, and 9 as if it was calling out those districts instead of understanding the data speaks for itself. 

Others attending may have seen it differently.