Mayor Bill Ham set out to defend the Auburn City Council and its members at Tuesday night’s city council meeting, during which the council members faced an onslaught of concerned citizens.
“I think it’s healthy that people have differing opinions,” Ham said. “I contemplated the possibility of reading some of these emails that clearly state innuendos [at the meeting] — not innuendos, they’re direct assaults on this City Council's — saying this City Council is corrupt.”
The sharp comments at the meeting follow, according to Ham, a barrage of emails which were sent by dozens of citizens concerned with news of a planned redevelopment.
The redevelopment project includes plans to demolish the University Chevron on the corner of North College Street and West Glenn Avenue. Once demolished, a new mixed-use development stretching to the maximum height of 75 feet would replace it and the adjacent parking lot on the corner of Wright Street and Glenn Avenue.
“We can get a little upset and scream and yell at each other, but at the point that you start — and you know who you are, if you’re here — that you start impugning the integrity of the people that are here that are basically volunteers of this community," Ham said. "I have a real problem with that.”
Ham went on to say he received emails that accused council members of colluding with the developers of apartment complexes such as 160 Ross and the new planned development at College Street and Glenn Avenue.
“Think about it, please, when you start these accusations,” Ham said. “Let’s don’t talk about this anymore. Bring the facts forward. If you believe that there is someone corrupt on this body, bring the facts and present them to the city manager and the police, and let’s get on with business.”
Mayor Ham’s pleas were not met with compliance. A half-dozen citizens addressed the council later in the meeting for nearly an hour and a half with outspoken opposition to the Chevron property redevelopment and the city’s policy toward new developments and redevelopments more generally.
Many of the speakers voiced concern over what they claimed was a blatant disregard by the council for the voices of the city’s citizens. Others went on to allege that the council purposely misled the city and withheld information regarding the redevelopment of the downtown lot.
Kelley Griswold, a resident of Auburn’s second ward, was an outspoken critic of the council at Tuesday’s meeting.
“Lack of action has caused suspicion to build,” Griswold said. “So, if you’re not going to do something, and you’re not going to do what the citizens have asked you to do, then all we’re asking for is tell us why.”
The council not only faced fierce questioning in relation to the Downtown Master Plan, but on the topic of race as well.
Former councilman Arthur Dowdell confronted the body. Dowdell claimed the council made selections for city positions, specifically police chief, that did not proportionally represent the city’s African-American population.
“I went to the city manager and we talked about having, for the first time, a black assistant chief [of police],” Dowdell said. “And now here it is, years later, and we still do not have a black assistant chief, and, over the years, have never had a black chief, but we did have people who was qualified. I pray that we break this ‘good-old-boy appointment system.’”
Dowdell went on to criticize the racial makeup of the council, which has only one African-American member. Dowdell blames the disproportion on the mapping of the city’s wards.
“We also know that the black community makes up 30 percent of Auburn, without the students,” Dowdell said. “If you look at this council, you won’t see that.”
Former police chief and current Ward 8 councilman Tommy Dawson responded to Dowdell’s accusations.
“The second in command of the police division, which is over the patrol section, happens to be Capt. Cedric Anderson, who happens to be a black man,” Dawson said.
Dawson went on to note that Capt. Lorenza Dorsey, who is over the investigations and public information sections of the police division, is also African-American.
“He’s not in that position because he’s a black man; he’s in that position because he is most qualified," Dawson said.
In other City Council news:
- The City Council approved a resolution, 6-1-1, that will allow for the redevelopment of the lot on which Hyatt House currently stands. The new development will most likely result in the demolition of the Hyatt House apartment complex, which will be replaced by a climate-controlled storage facility and a fast food restaurant. The franchise of the fast food restaurant was not discussed.
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