Tuesday evening council voted to ‘appropriate’ the strip shopping center where Walt’s Carryout and Shrimp Hut are, aka, eminent domain, for the ultimate benefit of the $55,000,000 development project going in called ‘Norton Crossing’. The owner doesn’t want to sell but that didn’t deter city leaders. Every councilperson voted yes to it with two absent; Wes Kantor and Van Gregg. It is a complicated situation which I’ll take more time to write about later but, for now I wanted to share with you my speech given regarding the segment of those displaced that I’ve never heard mentioned otherwise.

“I wanted to take just a moment to ruminate aloud to you a few things before Ordinance 35-2017 is voted on.
I want to say that while the problems at Commons at Royal Landing were related to a couple things; crummy landlord, miscreants who dealt in drugs and danger and death, the real victims of this city’s unwillingness or inability to turn the situation around, were the poor people; white, black and Hispanic, who didn’t cause problems or create havoc. Who struggled day in and day out to keep a roof over their heads and food in their stomachs. Those who were forced to leave anyway, those whose only crime was being too poor to fight, those who always get the short end of the stick when it comes to others considerations for their housing. Their homes and neighborhoods turned into game boards by city leaders and developers, eager to plan and strategize…and make money. Something the poor people can’t do. Kicked down the road to be someone else’s problem while upscale housing in $55 million dollar developments creates a more pleasing palette for the rest of us who aren’t so unfortunate as to be poor.