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 Food World Senior Bowl Trashes Downtown Mobile
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| By : Roy_Pope on 01 Nov 2008 at 06:49:45 pm
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I am certain that the Food World Senior Bowl Charity Run hosted in the streets of Downtown Mobile on Saturday generated plenty of money for the charity that they are funding. The race kicked off at around 8:00 am and ended some time around noon. It is nightfall as I write this and Bienville Square is still buried under mounds of trash that was left over from the run. There is one mound well over six feet high. Over fifty-percent of the park is covered in a blanket of paper, cups and plastic. I just watched as squirrels tore their way into plastic bags for food to eat - plastic bags that they can get trapped in, choke on or become suffocated by.
It only goes to reason that if a corporate giant such as Food World is going to host an event of any kind in our city, they would have the decency and courtesy to at least bring in a crew and clean up after themselves. They didn't. Instead, they have left our downtown in a littered shambles for tourists to gawk at in disbelief and for residents and business owners to shake our heads at in shame.
As a downtown landowner, I am forced to pay an annual assessment to the Downtown Mobile District Management Corporation. Part of that assessment is supposed to go towards the care and maintenance of our parks and the cleanup of trash after special events in the district. The cleanup crew from the DMDMC clocked out at 4:00 pm today, four hours after the Charity Run had ended. They did not bother cleaning up after the event, so the land owners have not received what we are forced by law to pay for.
Likewise, the City of Mobile Parks Department has failed us as well. As taxpayers, you'd think that our taxes would be used to maintain the parks and to keep them clean. Nobody from the Parks Department has been out today to clean up this mess.
I say that if Food World and other corporations ever applies for a permit to host another event in our city, they should be required to clean up after themselves or face steep fines by the city. What they have done to us today only brings disgrace upon us all and undermines our efforts to Keep Mobile Beautiful. |
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Category : News and Opinion
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DMDMC Talks Out Of Both Sides Of Their Mouth
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| By : Roy_Pope on 23 Oct 2008 at 11:40:42 am
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Talk about being hypocritical! The Downtown Mobile District Management Corporation, a business entity funded by assessments levied against owners of properties in the district where the properties are used for business other than businesses registered as 501(c) corporations, is actively promoting an arts auction that is geared towards promoting 15 Place downtown. What makes them so hypicritical in doing this is that the DMDMC has been supportive in the past of property owners in the area in our never-ending struggle to get rid of the 501(c) entity called 15 Place.
For those that do not know, 15 Place is an organization that attracts the homeless to the Historic Business and Entertainment District of Downtown Mobile. They give the homeless free food and services which in turn draws them to the area and encourages them to remain homeless and without jobs. Because of the location of 15 Place in our community, filthy homeless people are constantly congregating along our city's sidewalks and in our parks begging for the working man's change so that they can buy a pint of liquor and drink themselves further into destitution.
When approached about their support of 15 Place, the DMDMC President Elizabeth Sanders simply argued that the Methodist Church from whom the 15 Place leases its building is also a property owner. Well, I didn't ask anything about the Methodist Church of her - she just threw that bit of information into the argument. It does make one wonder, however, if the Methodist Church pays property assessments to the DMDMC on that property considering that it is used by a 501(c) entity.
It kind of makes one step back and wonder. Who does the DMDMC represent? Do they represent the property owners who pay the assessments to them every year? Or, do they represent those who do not pay assessments to the district while simultaneously creating a magnet within the community to draw in poverty, who cause hardships on businesses, and who devaluate the surrounding properties in the area? |
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Category : News and Opinion
| Comments [86] | Trackbacks [0] |
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Mayor Sam Jones Brings Annexation Woes To Land Owners
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| By : Roy_Pope on 08 Oct 2008 at 01:53:46 pm
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Well, Mayor Sam Jones has rose to victory again in his dastardly plot to take over the county. He has successfully annexed two other sections of Mobile County into the city limits, even though many of us did not want to become a part of the city.
I recently purchased a 1.2 acre piece of land in the Theodore section that was annexed. I chose that area because I did not want to purchase inside the city limits. Unfortunately for me, I do not actually live on the land so I was not given a voice when it came to voting against the annexation.
That really gets under my skin!
There are hundreds, if not thousands of land owners who purchased land outside the city limits for the mere sake of not wanting to be a part of the City of Mobile. We own the land, but we are not given a voice when it comes to voting against annexations such as this. It seems to me that this is a perfect example of "taxation without representation" since the annexation will lead to increased taxes for land owners BUT we are not allowed to vote on the annexation.
Isn't this a violation of our Constitutional rights? Wasn't this country founded for the very purpose of defending the rights of taxpayers against tyrannical politicians who levied taxes against the people without them having a voice in the matter?
If you ask me, Sam Jones needs to be removed from office, the city lines that were altered by his unconstitutional voting rules need to be drawn back to where they were originally (before he came to office), and ALL landowners having land in those areas need to be allowed to vote on the annexation plans - not just those land owners that live in the areas being annexed. |
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Category : News and Opinion
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The Great Mobile Land Grab
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| By : Roy_Pope on 19 Aug 2008 at 01:33:17 pm
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Some people don't have a clue. Give them the opportunity to buy a vowel and they put all their money on the number three. They don't have the sense God gave a grasshopper.
Yep. I'm talking about those who are unwittingly being led to believe that annexation into the City of Mobile will be beneficial to them.
Go back and read what was written on this site on April 14 - "Will Mayor Jones steal your land next?" After that, read "Tax Lien Investors Get Screwed by Mobile County".
I swear, it looks like the City of Mobile is becoming nothing more than a land-grabbing operation. Have the people of Mobile County forgotten how Sam Jones attempted to use eminent domain to steal people's land once he successfully annexed that huge part of west Mobile into the city? Have they forgotten how Sam moved the fire department from the area on Hitt Road where it was most beneficial and placed it out at the Mobile Regional Airport in what appeared to me to be an attempt to punish the people in the area of Hitt Road for voting against the annexation?
Before attempting to annex additional territories into the City of Mobile, it would make better sense if Mayor Jones would demonstrate to Mobilians that he knows what he is doing by focusing on crime in the existing city and fixing faulty utilities and services in the existing city.
Just a couple weeks ago, a man approached me as I was locking up my business downtown. At first, he asked me for money. When I refused, he threatened to "bust my m*f* head" and he lunged towards me with his fist balled for action. I was quickly spared a head-busting when I drew my pistol and he ran off down the street.
Immediately following that incident, I called the police. Twenty minutes later, a black female officer drove past. I flagged her down and told her what had happened. She took some notes, then told me that she wasn't out there to write reports - only to make certain nobody was breaking into cars. She told me I'd have to wait on another police officer, and she also told me that no call had been dispatched for my location as of that time. Twenty minutes and the call had not been dispatched!?!
After waiting ten more minutes, I began feeling for the safety of my wife who was waiting with me in the dark while the would-be robber was still on the loose. I finally drove to the Central Events Precinct and called for the police to meet me there. In all, it was sixty-five minutes before an officer finally spoke to me about what had happened - and he just rolled his eyes in his head and didn't bother taking a report!
I've been seeing the would-be robber sitting in Bienville Square regularly around lunch time. Clearly, Mobile's finest aren't doing their job.
Then, there's the matter of the Historic Building Marker being stolen from my building at 203 Dauphin Street. This happened in plain line-of-site to a police camera. Guess what - the camera hadn't worked for weeks prior to this theft, so the theives got away with their crime against me.
Yeah, I offered a reward for the return of the award. This past Saturday a young black man brought me a shield similar to the one that was stolen in an attempt to collect the reward. After looking at old photos of my building, I realized that it wasn't my award, so I took it to Central Events. The officer there - the same one who rolled his eyes at me about the attempted robbery incident - asked me what I expected him to do about it. I told him that I was turning the award in to the police because, for one, I didn't want to get in trouble for receiving stolen property. His reply to me - "we don't give a sh*t about that, Roy. Throw it in the trash, turn it in to the Historic department, or hang it on your wall. We don't care!"
Yes, there is quite a bit that needs to be done in regards to improving the services for the city that we already have. If police services are this bad in downtown Mobile, just imagine what you'll be getting in a newly annexed area if you permit Sam Jones to have his way with things. |
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Category : News and Opinion
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Goodbye Picklefish
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| By : Roy_Pope on 01 Aug 2008 at 05:33:01 pm
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I really hate to say it, but a downtown venue of great significance to our community has closed its doors. Picklefish restaurant is no more.
The owner of Picklefish, Mead Miller, is a very dear friend of mine. It is no secret that he fell victim to esophogeal cancer earlier this year. By the time the cancer was discovered, it had already done some serious damage to Mead's health. And unfortunately for him, Mead is having a really rough time of getting back on his feet following his surgery.
I don't know about anyone else, but I'm certainly going to miss having the Picklefish down the street from my restaurant, and I'm already missing having Mead around to shoot the bull with.
If you know Mead, be a friend and say a prayer or two for his health and recovery, give him a call if you know how to get in touch with him and just say hi, and keep him in your thoughts and prayers in the days that come. |
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Category : News and Opinion
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