Does Glenn Watson think God made a mistake?
A little while back the Huntsville city council approved the purchase of a homeless shelter for $3.9 million. The vote was 3-2 with Glenn Watson, Bill Kling and Sandra Moon voting in favor of the purchase and Mark Russell and Richard Showers opposing it. Glenn Watson said that “God made the decision for me” to vote to purchase the mission, according to the Huntsville Times. The very next day it was announced that the homeless shelter would be moving to Westminster Christian Academy on Evangel Drive.
Of course residents near the new location have a bad case of NIMBY and they’re being quite vocal. Councilman Watson, who is running for a spot on the county commission, has heard their complaints and come to the conclusion that God must have made a mistake. He now says that he will fight “as hard as I’ve ever fought for anything” to keep the relocation from happening. His words are empty, though, – and he probably knew before he opened his mouth – because the city can’t back out of the deal according to its attorney, Peter Joffrion.
Apparantly this topic made last night’s council meeting quite exciting. One woman had to be escorted by security. Watson and Mayor Loretta Spencer traded some pointed barbs. County Commissioner Bob Harrison, whose district includes the new shelter location, accused city leaders of “irresponsible actions.” Residents accused the council of orchestrating the quick purchase and sale to avoid public discussion.
Residents were also skeptical over the closeness of the $3.9 million appraisal for the Lowe site and the $3.7 million purchase of the Westminster campus.
“Everybody seems to be lying. We don’t know who is telling us the truth,” said Edgra Fallin as she accused city leaders of engaging in secrecy and lies. “Why were the skids greased so the deal would happen so fast that the neighborhood couldn’t react?”
Fun times. The whole story sounds more like something that would happen in Birmingham.
Note that I’m a Glenn Watson supporter. I believe him when he says that the Council didn’t know where the Mission was going when the purchase transaction was approved. He had to back away from the ‘fighting as hard’ statement, probably after meeting with the City attorney.
I also agree with him that moving the Mission helps recover a huge tract of light industrial / housing / retail in the Lowe Mill area (between Governors, Triana, Bob Wallace, and Pinhook Creek). IMO this area is poised to take off better than Five Points (better retail facilities – equally bad schools).
Anyplace the Mission tried to relocate would be controversial. Supposedly the Council got promises from the Mission to keep better control over the clients – IIRC currently they kick them out from 9-5, so hundreds of people mill around the area all day – the Mission promises to provide day services. Plus the HPD committed to improving their coverage of the area.
It makes sense that the Mission would spend the same or less for a new place – not an issue.
IIRC Eddgra Fallin was a ‘Dean for America’ candidate for school board, who got fewer votes than a guy who was under suspicion for stealing PTA money (neither won).
IIRC she is also notable for defending her daughter’s poetry at Lee HS, which included such moving lyricisms as “I want to slap the white off of you”.
There is no way that the current mission property is worth $4million which calls the whole deal into question in my mind. The mission is not the only problem with that area too. The only real streetwalking prostitutes in HSV are immediately west of there and I doubt the location of the mission will impact there business.
Let’s face it, none of us want the homeless shelter in our neighborhood. So, does that mean that we should attempt to force such into an area which, in the past, has had the least impact relative to electing our Mayor. (Surely that is what our “Leader” must have been thinking.) My vote is “NO”. There are some reasonable solutions out there, some of which are being presented by Tommy Battle, who has joined the Mayor’s race. He recently presented the most reasonable solution, “relocate such to an area where the City already owns property and which is not likely to be suitable for commercial or residential development. Listen to the scenerio that he has put together: More than a year ago, a developer with the City of Huntsville advised the Rescue Mission that the City would be buying the property as the result of a road project. On March 27, 2008, the City contracted to buy the Rescue Mission (homeless shelter) and then completed the purchase shortly thereafter for $3.9 million and advised that they would be required to vacate by September 2008. (Why was it necessary to vacate so quickly when the project was not scheduled to begin until 2011? Could it be politics as usual for the current Mayor? That just might be the case since the election is set for 8/26/08) Then without any study, discussions, or community input, the Shelter was allowed to purchase the Westminister Academy property on Evangel Circle. Surely the City had not already agreed to authorize these activites at this location without any community input. Evidently Mayor Spencer and the City Attorney failed to consider that this area is bordered by a residential community with apartment complexes and a commercial warehouse area, “Commercial Drive”. Did the City consider that this would place the homeless shelter near UAH (less than 2400 feet based upon the MapQuest.com Map), Oakwood College, University Place Elementary and St Luke Church Daycare. Did the City work with the shelter to find a reasonable or “best” solution? Did they consider that with this move, the shelter would be moved away from healthcare? Remember, Huntsville Hospital is a “non-profit” institution (Ha)that is here for the good of the community (buying all the adjacent land possible and dimishing public housing). Did the City talk to the Huntsville Police about this “behind the scenes deal” before agreeing to allow this property to be used in this manner? I submit to you that this is a mistake. Don’t get me wrong, I am not totally adverse to Mayor Spencer, however, the failure to consider the affect this would have on the community, and to work with the Shelter to resolve the issues in a manner favorable to the community ranks right up there with the City inspection department’s failure to make sure the jail was built in a manner so as to meet the “standard building code”. What Battle proposed was that the shelter and City should have looked at relocating the facility to Derrick Street, between Holmes and Clinton, on property that was already owned by the City. Why? It would have minimal impact, if any on a residential neighborhood. However, it is close enough to downtown so that medical services, both standard healthcare and mental health services could be accessed. Battle noted that this was considered by the Community Development Director approximately 18 months ago. So why did the City did consider it now? Why did they not use the best solution? Were they afraid that they would adversely affect the property owned by an individual? Surely not. Did our leaders make the decision to create additional risks for individuals (school age children, college students, employees of small bussinesses)and to adversely impact the property values of hundreds of individuals and small businesses so that someone, (Yes, I said someONE) would not be at risk for his/her property values to be diminished. Another BAD DECISION. Face it times are tough and will become more difficult. Huntsville has had it easy, however, poor decisions will not allow us to continue to prosper during tough economic times. The City cannot afford any more BAD decisions. How can this be corrected? By you. It is time for a change. If the homeless, lower class and lower middle class will ever “wake up” and understand that your vote has the same result as that of a high wage earner, these type problems can be modified and resolved in a positive manner and return our leaders back to a government which is attempting to make decisions for the right reasons. Ultimately, some of those decisions may not be the most popular, however, I am ready for a leader that will govern based upon his or her conscience versus their pocketbook and the pocketbook of their supporters.
(I do want to “talk” about the homeless in Huntsville – Where do they come from? I have attempted to learn about them in the past two years. Are they all alcoholics, drug addicts or prostitutes? No, but without question many are. Many of them are responsible for their own plight as the result of whatever choice of “social evil” placed them there, however, many are not. Many are there because of the economy and many of us fail to consider what two to three weeks of unemployment as the result of lack of work, illness or injury has upon a large portion of our population. Most jobs are 40 hours a week and the hourly rate of pay for many of these folks was at the minimum wage level, however, many were performing labor activities and earning $9.00 per hour or $360.00 each week. Lets assume that they were taking home 80% of that, so these folks would have $288 each week or $1248 to spend each month ($288 x 52 weeks/12). Just how far will that take me? I was able to find a one bedroom apartment for $375 (I would not live in it), (estimate) cheap vehicle w/ ins. $225.00 month, Utilities $150.00 mth, food $450.00 mth, gas $100.00 mth = $1,300.00. Well, lets assume that I could get by with less than $100 for gas and less than $450 for groceries, if so, I would have a place to live, transportation, and food, if I was really conservative. Note that I am not considering anything for clothing, cleaning supplies, personal care items (soap, deodorant, paper products, etc.)or medical care. If I get sick, am injured, or am out of work through no fault of my own or if my car breaks down and I have to pay to have it fixed in order to get to work, then all of a sudden this income does not support me and I am evicted from my apartment, basically, I am now behind and cannot catch up. What are my options? I do what I have to do to survive and my only choice, assuming I do not have friends or relatives to assist me, is either to move in under a bridge, an abandoned house or a homeless shelter,and unless some miracle occurs, I am entrapped in this way of life. If you simply do a little exploring you will find that just as many are stuck in this cycle, as are placed there by their own actions, and that many of the prostitutes turn to such as a means of survival and that many of the heavy drinkers and drug users turn to such as a means to provide some minimal “good feeling” given what they are surrounded by. Most of us, never take the opportunity to consider this. Take a look, you will find that many are willing to work and are good people.
Watching – consider:
“the Shelter was allowed to purchase” – the City doesn’t control what purchases a non-profit organization makes. If the Mission meets zoning requirements etc then it’s not the City’s business.
Huntsville Hospital is not “dimishing public housing” – the City (wisely) decided that the aging projects by the hospital could be sold and the money used to build new facilities elsewhere, rather than renovating the old projects.
Mental health services are not located downtown. The Mental Health Center is on South Parkway at Golf Rd, with other facilities on Johnson Rd.
[QUOTE]homeless, lower class and lower middle class will ever “wake up”[/QUOTE]
Workers, soldiers, and sailors, proletarians of all lands, unite! Hey, it worked for the Bolsheviks.
Tommy Battle’s take on the situation is over at TommyBattle.com, see the Friday 4-11 update
http://tommybattle.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=18&Itemid=2
For What $ amount was Westminster propery listed ?
A point of fact:
Westminster was 5 minutes walk from a grade school and The University of Alabama in Huntsville which is both a public area and a primary source of professional workers for Huntsville.
A point of report:
The “mission” was given the go ahead to build AT the WESTMINSTER site without having to obtain the usual permits for such an endeavor.
Instead of adopting a definitive homeless policy and keeping such problems away form the core economic area for Huntsville (ie the collage, Research Park, the old and the new mall, and several highly profitable businesses like Best Buy which will all be affected). The city bought “the mission” at an inflated price and approved the purchase and quick construction of a new shelter in the worst possible area. Keep in mind that a homeless shelter empties during the day for kleaning.
This is not an accident, it is logistic irresponsibility (topped with money flavored sprinkles).
Glen Watson is in the habit of raising your taxes. Glen Watson on many occasions supported tax increases or more fees upon the citizens of Huntsville. The below is one example where Glen Watson did the bidding of the AEA by publicly supporting a sales tax increase.
The below is a few excerpts from the Huntsville Times of Feb 16, 2007, where Glen Watson pushed for higher sales taxes. Glen Watson was well funded in his race for County Commissioner Faye Dyer who has opposed sales tax increases.
SPARKS FLY AS LEADERS DEBATE TAXES
Faye Dyer, Glen Watson trade jabs over proposed hike to help schools Friday, February 16, 2007 By JOHN PECK
Times Staff Writer A “unity breakfast” of county and municipal leaders turned testy Thursday during a
discussion on a proposed countywide sales-tax increase for schools.
The debate got personal when Madison County Commissioner Faye Dyer rapped City Council President Glenn Watson
for attacking commissioners for not passing the half-cent countywide tax, while dismissing the notion of a
city-only sales tax for schools. Watson plans to run for Dyer’s commission seat in 2008.
“If the city of Huntsville school system has needs, it’s my view the Huntsville City Council should address
them, not the County Commission,” Dyer said.
Watson responded that a countywide sales tax would help all school districts in Madison County. The countywide
sales-tax hike, he said, is a quick way to address school growth challenges now without the added step of
getting legislative approval.