The meeting on Tuesday Night lasted nearly 2 1/2 hours and was full of relevant information. I have already reported on the issue of the relocation of the Farmer's Market from the old Hickory Station Depot to the right side of the parking lot on Union Square. (Farmer's Market on Union Square).
The following presentations come from Larry Pope's address to the Council involving his arrest in association with the destruction of the swimming pool in Ridgeview and its relation with the pool in West Hickory. The other address of the Council is by Jim Edmonds in relation to the Cell Tower that is being placed in the vicinity of Highway 127 behind Jenkins Elementary, Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church, and the Hunter's Run neighborhood.
Larry Pope went into the process of his being arrested for the protest of the demolition of the Ridgeview Pool on February 7, 2011. He stated that he had met with the Police Chief on the previous Friday with a Letter of Recommendation asking the City of Hickory to locate the future proposed swimming pool, in which they are seeking Federal dollars, to be located at 4th St and 7th Ave SW. That would be totally accessible to the children of Ridgeview and Westmont. If the City was unwilling to do that, they asked that the City to give the Ridgeview Pool to the Ridgeview Community and they would come up with the money to refurbish it and have it open by this summer. The only thing that they would ask of the city is to provide the water free of charge and they would provide everything else as a community. If a letter of respose was received by 7am that Monday morning, then the protest would not take place. Neither one of those recommendations was accepted as far as they know because no letter was forthcoming.
Chief Adkins stated that he did deliver the message, but he doesn't know what happened thereafter. Larry stated that he told Chief Adkins and Major Deal that if it was necessary to go to jail for something that the community wanted to save, that he was willing to go...
Larry then added that what the HPD officials were telling the (Citizens for Equity in Government) was not coming from them it was coming from Mick and Rudy. Larry told them that they had a job to do and he did not blame them for doing what they had to do, because you can be put between a rock and a hard place in working for the City of Hickory and you have to do what the top folk tell you to do. He added that they were treated with kindness and courtesy and showed that they were human beings and citizens and taxpayers of this city. He says that hopefully the rest of the City (including Mayor, Council, and City manager) will follow after Chief Adkins, Major Deal, and Officer Lee in doing what is right, because he refused to stand up during the Pledge of Allegiance where it says "...and justice for all," because y'all don't believe in justice for all. It is justice for those who you want to distribute justice to... And not to the southside of the railroad tracks (neither the Ridgeview or Westmont Community).
What was reported in the Hickory Daily Record, about city officials saying that no one had contacted them about the closing of the pools, was not true. They (Citizens for Equity in Government) will do whatever they have to do to bring Democracy and Justice to this city.
Jim Edmonds was the next to speak in addressing the Cell tower issue brought before the Council at the last meeting. There were two articles in the newspaper, but what everyone is missing is that this Cell tower is a whole lot closer to Jenkins Elementary school than it is to the neighborhood. It is a couple of hundred feet from the school.
Last week, he presented about the Tower and the Superintendent and every member of the board stated that they were unaware of the request. Joab Cotton did call him later in the week and did say that the notice came in the mail at the beginning of the year after Christmas break. You can imagine at a school how a little letter did not get where it needs to be. The Principal at Jenkins, Stephanie Dischiavi, sent Mr. Edmonds a letter that arrived last Friday. It was summarized that the students of Jenkins are getting missed in this. The Principal was unaware of this issue until 5 days after the Planning Commission meeting was held that approved the construction of the Cell tower at that spot. The residents of Hunter's Run are on the clock and have 30 days from the time it was approved. Isn't it a sad statement that a school would have to spend tax dollars to appeal to Superior court to stop a Cell Phone Tower from being put adjacent to their campus, when they need money for text books and to hire teachers? Does anyone here think that it is a good idea for these elementary school children to be sitting under this tower 30 hours per week. This Council has got to do something. We're helpless. Y'all are our elected officials.
The Hound: Community, communication. Good Communication = Good Community. Bad Communication = Bad Community. Is anyone seeing a pattern here? Is anyone seeing a link or a common theme to the issues of angst and anxiety that we have seen over the last few years?
Who does the information belong to? Who is trying to control and manipulate the information we receive? Is all of this chalked up to misunderstandings? Isn't it a stretch to chalk every issue of miscommunication or lack of communication to coincidence. You would have to compartmentalize every issue related to the City of Hickory in order to do that. If you start rubbing your brain cells together and connecting the pattern, then you will see that we have a serious issue here and it is time for some accountability related to public information. Public Information belongs to the people. They should not have to jump through hoops to get it. It should be accessible. It is time to demand that the City of Hickory stop playing petty little games with information that belongs to the people.
The grievances against the hydra continue to mount. Isn't it time to reverse course. Why would anyone voluntarily choose such a self-destructive course, because in the end they are only hurting themselves, their reputation, their legacy, and their community is being hurt by their actions, not the other way around!
