Okay. Are you aware that he was the previous owner of the property?
Yes, I am.
Okay. And would it surprise you to know that he might testify that you tried to purchase the property and were very disturbed that you were not able to purchase it from him when he sold it to Ms. Nixon?
I've never tried to purchase this property.
Ma'am, please remember you're under oath.
I am under oath. I've never tried to purchase this property.
So you had never had any interest in pursuing ownership of this property?
no and and i work with mr roundtree to help support him and whatever he asked me in reference
to violations or anything that went on with his property so maybe so if he were to testify that
you had an interest in buying the property uh it would be your opinion that that would be inaccurate
right that would be inaccurate yes it would be inaccurate i have nothing further
is there anyone else in the virtual audience
here we have 10 hands raised how would you like to proceed with this
um well let's take one at a time see where okay the first one is a keith harris
hi could you state your name and spell for the court reporter please
yes my name is keith harris k-e-i-c-h-h-a-r-i-s do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole
truth nothing but the truth i do do you support this project i do and i support it as the ward
leader um this probably has always been a commercial when we were younger it was tim's
grocery store he sold meats had a butcher there and everything this has always been a commercial
corridor. Everybody wants to miss the town. So the building, once Mr. Roundtree purchased
the property after the crack epidemic, he purchased the property. He tried to open up
a seafood place at one time. And Ms. Cummings went against that also. And she did try to
purchase the property on numerous occasions from Mr. Roundtree. I noticed she told me
that and he told me that personally um um i don't know um why i was so adamant she's so adamant
about against this project um really i think the benefits outweigh the risk as far as the parking
is concerned i have a friendship with the mall across the street and i'm pretty sure that he
would would be in compliance with some of the cars parked over there if needs to be um miss
altrina grew up in this neighborhood she took a dilapidated building that would have been a lot
she did a benefit to this community right she took a building spent a lot of money um to get
this building back in back in shape as though um the community could benefit from it i don't have
no personal interest with matt and miss altrina um other than um being a personal observer and
with miss altrina um other than um um being a personal observer and also a community leader
you know as the ward leader and um also the surrounding committee people which i'm one
on the northeast corner of um um of 29th street the other committee person is on the west um on the
north um south corner of the property they're in compliance um or not in compliance but they're
agreement um that this will be a benefit to the community also to rally committee people that
that they're in probably they're on the call now which one is david wright and also angelo booker
thank you mr harris we appreciate you calling in who who who's what hand do you have next
i have a mr angelo booker up now mr booker could you state your name and spell for the
court reporter, please. Yes. Good afternoon. My name is Angelo Booker. That's A-N-G-E-L-O
Booker, B-O-O-K-E-R. All right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth,
nothing but the truth? Oh, yes, I do. Mr. Booker, we've had a lot of comments about this.
Do you support it or are you against it? Oh, I support it definitely. Okay. Because
there's always, you know, there's a lot of recreation that was already taken from the
community. And the young lady purchased the property to put it together to try to offset
and help the community from the violence that's taking place in our community already.
Thank you, Mr. Booker. Mr. Booker, thank you very much because we got a lot of other people
with their hands up. Okay. We hear exactly what you're saying. Who's next?
We have Lisa Monique. Lisa, could you state your name, please, and spell for the
court reporter last name jenkins hyphen hayden hi could you state your name please and spell for
the court reporter ma'am please unmute yourself i i have twice now it keeps popping okay it's
l-y-s-a-m-o-n-i-q-u-e jenkins hyphen hayden right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
i'm sorry chair j-e-n-k-i-n-s hyphen h-a-y-d-e-n
do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes as you've heard we've had a lot of testament are you for or against the project
i am opposed to this and i live right on this block okay the same block it's proposed on
okay many many meetings and concerns with no board leaders that showed up with the kind of
solutions that we've been looking for for the last three years. I've been in this community
50 years. And I do agree with the attorney about the shootings not occurring in front of the
occupied commercial spaces because they occur in front of our homes. People leave these places and
come in front of other people's homes to loiter, to sit, to smoke, to continue talking. And we have
had a hell of a time and no support from the ward leaders or any other persons to help us with
parking or noise or loitering or crime or robbery or increase. Thank you so much for calling in. We
appreciate everything you've said. We have a few other people behind you. We understand you're
against the project. Who's next? Mr. David Wright is next. Hi, Mr. Wright. Could you state your name
and spell it please for the court reporter yes i can hi my name is david wright d-a-v-i-d w-r-i-g-h-t
and where wait a minute wait a minute you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing
but the truth well absolutely are you in favor of the project or against it favor wholeheartedly
okay thank you so much we have several people who want to have their names mentioned where they stand
who's next
do we have anyone else yes tammy johnson hi miss johnson could you state your name and spell please
for the court reporter hi could you state your name and spell for the court reporter please
Ms. Johnson, can you unmute?
Hello, can you hear me now?
Yes, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
My name is Tammy Johnson. That's T-A-M-M-Y.
Last name Johnson, J-O-H-N-S-O-N.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Yes, I do.
Now you've heard a lot of testimony.
Now, you've heard a lot of testimony. Are you for or against the project?
Are you for or against the project?
I'm against it.
Thank you very much, and we appreciate where you stand.
We're going to try to get other people on.
Who else do we have?
Kathleen Brown.
Hi, Ms. Brown.
Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Ms. Brown, unmute, please.
Can you hear me?
Yes. Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
K-A-T-H-R-Y-N. B-R-O-W-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Now, you've heard a lot of testimony. Are you for or against the project?
I am against the project.
Okay. And you're a neighbor?
I live right across the street.
Thank you so much for calling in. We're going to try to see if we can't get other people up.
who's next
Desiree Taylor
Ms. Taylor could you state your name
and spell for the court reporter
yes Desiree Taylor
D-E-S-E-R-R-E-E
last name Taylor T-Y-L-O-R
right do you swear
or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing
but the truth yes
are you for or against the project
I'm for the project
thank you very much and are you a neighbor
okay thank you i don't i live on 33rd street okay all right thank you we appreciate you saying that
who's next gary jones here hi gary could you state your name and spell for the court reporter
all right my name is gary jones spell my name g-a-r-y-j-o-n-e-s and i'm against it well do
you swear affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and that's what truth yes i affirm sir
And you're against it, and are you a neighbor?
I'm directly next door to the building.
Thank you very much, sir.
Who's next?
Tia Hardy.
Ms. Hardy, could you say your name and spell for the court reporter?
It's Tia, T-I-A, Hardy, H-A-R-D-Y.
You swear or affirm, tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
The truth.
Are you for or against this project?
I am for the project.
And are you a neighbor?
Thank you very much.
How many more hands do we have?
We have two more hands, Chair.
Okay, thank you.
Who's next?
Nasi Nixon.
Hi, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Hello, can you hear me?
Yes, I can.
Could you state your name and spell, please, for the court reporter?
Yes, my name is Nasi Nixon.
That's spelled N-A-A-S-I.
Last name Nixon, N-I-X-O-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
We've had a lot of testimony, sir.
Are you for or against the project?
I'm absolutely for the project.
And are you a neighbor?
Yes, I am.
Thank you.
Who's the last hand, please?
We now have two more, Chair.
The next one is Tamara Miller.
Hi, Ms. Miller, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Hi, my name is Tamara Miller, T-A-M-A-R-A, last name Miller, M-I-L-L-E-R.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
We've had a lot of testimony. Are you for or against the project?
Against.
And you live in the area?
I live next to Ms. Tammy, who lives right next door.
Okay, thank you very much for taking the time to call in. Please, the last hand.
Last one is Karen Donaldson.
Ms. Donaldson, could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter?
Ms. Donaldson, unmute, please.
Hi, my name is Karen Donaldson.
Could you spell it, please?
D-O-N-A-L-D-S-O-N.
Now, Karen, you've heard we've had a lot of testimony, Ms. Donaldson.
Yes, I'm the committee person.
Chair, excuse me, Chair.
Okay, I know, I hear, John, I hear you.
Ms. Donaldson, spell your name again, please.
K-A-R-E-N-D-O-N-A-L-D-S-O-N.
Now, Ms. Donaldson, you've heard a lot of testimony that we've had.
Are you for or against the project?
Yes, I am.
I'm the committee person across the street, and I am for.
You're for the project?
Chair, again, excuse me, has she been sworn?
I thought I did, but I'll do it. Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Thank you very much for calling in. We appreciate it.
We've heard a lot of people. Vern, would you like to sum up?
Yeah, Mr. Chair. First, I just want to make a note of the folks who testified today.
Eight testified in favor. Five testified against. And I do object to anyone declaring that they live directly next door to this property.
Eight testified in favor, five testified against.
Again, this is a commercial property on the corner. The only adjacent property that's attached next door is another commercial mixed use property that is owned by my client.
no one else is attached to this property thank you because of that because of all the provisos
and mitigation efforts that my client is proposing because of her testimony that the only folks who
have any interest in moving in are exactly the same type of folks who are across the street
causing problems and because we have an overwhelming number of immediate neighbors in support not only