As a Public Affairs Liaison for the Gateway Neighborhood Assn., I emailed (an invitation) to all members of the City Council, including the Mayor, Carol Gross, Steve Rose, Gary Silbiger and Scott Malsin, although Scott already had attended and Gary had attended, too.
I emailed through the city, through the City Council contact system we are told to use. I did not get a response. I ran into (fellow association officer) Julie Lugo Cerra. She said she had spoken to Steve Rose and had told him we were emailing for a date to attend one of our meetings. No response.
Julie emailed Carol Gross. I emailed her back that the times she gave us were not compatible with vacation schedules due to Labor Day. I only heard from Carol. I did not hear back from anyone else.
I called the City Managers office several times. Each time I spoke to Jerry Fulwoods assistant. She assured me the (email) system was working fine. She said she would pass along the information to him. I never got a response from anyone.
A Little Background
I live on Duquesne (near the 9900 Culver Blvd. project), and I feel for the developers. I am not against redevelopment.
What I am against is so obviously stacking the deck and chiding members of the community who attend City Council meetings.
Onesided?
This is what I mean by the Council stacking the deck:
If the developer has done everything the developer can do then if (the city has) gone ahead and sold the lot (at 9900) without notification (of the public), if we are trying to back into a process and get a concession from the neighborhood, it does not behoove Steve Rose or Carol Gross to criticize (us).
Malsin Is Included
Scott Malsin also apparently likes to engage in verbal fisticuffs with one of our members. That was very unprofessional.
It is not right of them to chide members of the audience who take time out to come and speak. I certainly did not appreciate the fact that Jerry Fulwoods office obviously had not been informed.
Whats insulting is I have egg on my face. I am sitting there in the audience with my compatriots, and they are all looking at me like Im a bad guy.
Wrong Message
The Council cannot sit there and make decisions while chiding people. It is inappropriate. It sends the wrong message to the community. Some people are more equal than others.
We are not adversaries. We are neighbors.
I think what is going on is that we have an ego problem in the city. You have got an outgoing City Council (3 of the 5 members will be term-limited next April). For some reason, they feel a need to chastise people in the audience.
Background
I moved to Duquesne 10 years ago specifically to be a part of Downtown. I have roots in the community. I went to school here, and eventually I moved back here.
I have been active in the community. Right now, I do not fit the Councils profile. I am a single female who is taking care of an 81-year-old mother with Alzheimers. So I am live/work. I am concerned about what is going in (at 9900) because it is going to impact city services. It is going to pact parking. It is going to impact crime.
I actually take away from my time as a caregiver for someone I care for to come and attend these meetings.
Counterproductive?
When I feel as if I am being given short shrift because I show up, that really flies in the face of what community is about.
I dont understand how City Council members who were elected by the people can talk this way to and about people sitting in the audience.
I have nothing against the developers of 9900. I do have something against a system that allows people we elected to talk to those of us in the peanut gallery as if our opinions did not count.
Now I am mad.
