And this is what you see.
Thank you.
And then with the, was there, and again.
uh was there and again there was then and there was a letter that was
attached yes and i'm going to move into that here here is the letter that is that's the initial
letter this is the initial letter it says as coordinating rco strawberry mansion cdc is
issuing this letter of support of the meeting held for the above reference preference uh reference
um property referenced above to family use and it goes into it and it did also say that
okay we so then the letter in opposition was there a summary uh form with that um i i don't
the vote count in what have you it's the there's they did not revise from my understanding the
letter of support of opposition that was issued yesterday simply sort of repackages some things
that mr williams has said about the neighborhood and and it presents no new vote count it's simply
a different letter with the same with because there was no new vote count and there was no
polling and there was no petition that would support a total change of position from one in
the 10 days that between you know yesterday and and the sixth so we're perplexed by what took place
and and who contacted mr williams and or and how and mr williams said that people did contact him
i'm not sure if mr williams was one of them um sorry there's two there's reverend williams i
should say so i don't know exactly what pressures he had but he felt so inclined to to reverse the
position which was perplexing to us um mr chair we we don't have we don't have a copy of the of
that second letter up and and i haven't seen it so i'm hoping that that someone can display that
the second one was signed by reverend williams yes yes so i think i'll make sure you get a copy
okay yeah you should you should have a copy since it was signed by your client and and i apologize
i do have a cop an email with it i didn't put it in this presentation i thought mr masters would be
putting it into perhaps his with with but he's recently engaged so
thank you um and and that's that's my questions thank you any other questions in the board
question has there been any um issue raised uh that there was an improper mailing or folks
weren't notified of the original rco leading there's there's always no one in the rco meeting
said that they did not receive the letter. In fact, everyone that was there did. We presented this. I don't just do the one page. I actually physically, personally do these certificates of mailing. So when they come out of our office, I mean, I have every letter that went out physically handed to. So I know they went out. It's not, you know, I presented this to Mr. Reverend Williams a week before 10 days or 11 or 12 days before the RCO meeting.
so there was no objection as to that
I don't think that was the issue
that was it
that was my question
questions from the board
questions or comments
from our attorney Hillary Emerson
not at this time
Mr. Chair
questions or comments from the virtual audience
yes Chair
I have a hand up by the name of
Whitney Blake they have been allowed to
could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer hi can you hear me i can hi good
morning my name is whitney lake do you need my first and last name spelled out please could you
please do that hi my name is whitney blake uh first name uh letter is w as in walter h as in
harry i as in igloo t as in tom n as in nancy e as in edward y as in yellow and my last name is
Blake. Last name B as in Boy, L as in Larry, A as in Apple, K as in Kevin, E as in Edward.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
I do, sir.
Are you a neighbor?
Yes, sir.
Please proceed.
Hi, I am a resident of 1818 North Nutrona Street. I am directly across from both residences
that both Mr. Tippin and Mr. Watt are petitioning for. First of all, I want to say that Mr.
Mr. Calvin, Mr. Calvin, who I call him Mr. Calvin Daly,
he is one of the elders on our block
and I am one of the children.
One of the things that Brian Watson has brought up in previous meetings that we have had with the RCL and the zoning board and through the Starry Mansion meeting is the fact that he is a child of the block.
One of the things that Brian Watson has brought up
in previous meetings that we have had with them
I currently live on this block. I was raised on this block. I am currently 37 years old.
And I just want to refer back to the exhibit that Mr. Tiffin had shown on his screen a few minutes ago, stating those on the RCO board or those in the meeting that agreed upon this message that all those people, no, no, it says current resident.
If you want to go up, keep going.
And when I list all the addresses of those who attended the meeting, who approved the building, keep going, please.
Keep scrolling up, please.
scroll faster please so i can i want to make sure everybody can say what they want
so if you once he gets to there you'll see that a lot of the addresses listed are all of those
addresses are for current residents of other blocks i am a resident of 1800 metrona street
um and i want to say i have a few things my main concern and this has been exhausting overall from
those on my block, specifically for me because I live across the street, and I have heard the
barrage from both Mr. Watson and his previous counsel, along with the ethical practices. I
have concerns about from everyone on the petitioner's side regarding how they have
carried themselves from this meeting and prior meetings. During the last meeting, the petitioner
included individuals who voted in favor who are not residents of this block. I live here. I'm a
resident here. My mother owns the lot next. So him touting that, oh, Mr. Calvin owns a property.
I live here. We see the effects of building and property on our street. And I won't stand for it.
I question the intentions of why they're doing this. I question also the underhanded tactics.
Those who approve. Okay. So why don't, listen to me. So why don't, so you're against this project?
absolutely and mostly before the plea of reservation for excuse me for preservation
for this block a lot of what they're going to tell is that they went around about this the
right way they did not those who approve and he's still not showing it if you can scroll up there is
i don't i don't have that document yeah i don't have that document is on there if you scroll up
sherman sherman hold on hold up she's talking about your mailing oh oh i also want to say
that I'm a resident of this block
and not one letter was sent
to anyone. I did not receive it.
I work from home. I am home
all the time. Mail comes to me,
I bet, those right there, current residents,
33rd and Montgomery.
People who are not residents of this block are making
decisions for those who are on this block
and I don't appreciate that.
Listen,
that's where he mailed, that's where he mailed
to and I guess
the question,
Listen to me. We have other people want to testify. It's real clear where you stand with this. Am I correct?
Yes, I'm sorry. I apologize. I'm very passionate, and I don't appreciate how...
I understand. So we thank you very much. We understand where you stand.
Thank you.
I have a question for Sherman.
I just wanted to know if she intended the RCO meeting that we had, Ms. Blake.
i think she said she didn't receive the mailing oh okay no further questions
other hands tyrone williams has been allowed to speak good morning reverend williams please
state your name and spell for the stenographer good morning chairman bergman and the board
good morning to both attorneys and good morning to a one on the line my name is tyrone reverend
tyrone williams tyrone t-y-r-o-n-e williams w-i-l-l-i-a-m-s you swear or firm to tell
the truth the whole truth is nothing but the truth reverend yes i do please proceed okay uh first
off uh the letter that was up was for 3144 euclid it was not the letter for 1819 and he put that
letter up as evidence. So that is not the original
letter of support that I sent. That is for another
property. He presented on two properties that night, one of
them being 3144 Euclid. So that's the
letter. That is not the correct letter.
Secondly, our conversation, excuse me,
secondly, I never asked y'all to withdraw.
what our conversation was
because I was getting
so much
pushback from the nearby residents
who felt they were being ignored
I asked you to ask your
client would he consider
building a single family.
building a single family
and I said to you
And I said to you that it will sell
that it will
because Habitat for Humanity just did a huge project
around the corner with a bunch of single families
and they all sold.
You expressed to me that your client
wasn't interested in doing that.
And the clientele he was interested in it written to,
Section 8 and students and others.
And I explained to you that, you know,
the block has been the way it's been for years. Secondly, I want to talk about the 12 that voted.
Prior to voting, and anyone on this line can confirm this, I ask everyone to identify themselves
even through their phone numbers. I call out last numbers. I call out names. I try to make sure
everyone in the RCO meeting know who is on the line for transparency. I also, when I host these
meetings, ask for the nearby residents to have a say, and which they did. Thirdly, the reason for
the retraction is because I didn't do due diligence, and I will say that. I didn't go back
to my records for 1821 North Neutrona, which I believe I may have been the chair of that
meeting as well.
And the same pushback came at that time in 2023 because I looked through the paperwork
and checked everything out, including finding the letter for former Council President Darrell
call it. I spoke
with my boy
here at the CDC about
this because it was complexing to me
and I was, they
instructed on me what to do.
I will say
Toppin
did talk to me about
how is it fair that 12 people
could support it and
you not get it. Well, you have
five abstains
that didn't want to even bother with it and four opposed and the others that voted i can't tell you
where they came from because i don't have anything on zoom that told me anybody's address or give me
anything i go on people being honest while they're on the line identifying themselves saying who they
are so everyone in the meeting know who they is. The reason for the retraction is because we at
the CDC is supporting the nearby neighbors of that block because it's a block that can be easily
densified and we are currently dealing with that in Strawberry Mansion and we don't want to see
more density if we could prevent it. Thank you. Thank you Mr. Williams.
and sure sherman you have questions i think mr williams was very accurate in in how he conducted
the meeting was actually the rcu meeting was actually well conducted and that was notable
and but the issue still remains mr williams that only four raised their hand to oppose
in that meeting of a block of 28. four one of we're going to object that that's not a question
for cross-examination well well mr mr williams you but i yeah so so i think you can ask the
question if sure relative just four people on the paperwork so mr williams that that that is correct
what you indicated on as far as the vote count for in as far as directly opposing when you ask
for the vote that is correct isn't it that's correct but i also want to just uh bring miss
whitney's testimony to light and which she said did she did not even receive a letter of the
meeting and she is a current resident in the block and i don't know how many others may not
have received the letter and that well well what what is what is true mr williams and you know this
for a fact that calvin williams who is on the is the block captain and he was very job to mail
mr top and it's your job and i did to mail to all the current no ideas and the block and
and it's reverend reverend reverend reverend yes sir let's let's go back so the position
reverend williams so where you understand your position right now you're in opposition
we are in opposition correct does anybody else have another question for the reverend
I don't turn the world to your you're through. There's no, there's no thank you. Thank you.
Thank you, Reverend. Anyone else in the virtual audience? Yes, chair. I have three hands remaining.
Gwendolyn Blake has been allowed to speak
Gwendolyn Blake has been allowed to speak.
I could
Hi, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Hello.
Can you hear me?
Good morning.
I can.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
My name is Gwendolyn Blake.
As G as in girl, W-E-N-D-O-L-Y-N.