Please see below the message from Ward 5 Commissioner Chad Malkus regarding CAN’s unofficial notes on the March 13 City Council Meeting.

On Mar 16, 2023, at 9:00 AM, Chad Malkus wrote:

Hi Chuck:

I was reading through CAN’s unofficial notes on the March 13th City Council meeting and I must admit to some disappointment as to how they were presented and some glaring omissions. I’m not sure whether they were intentional or unintentional, but I feel that it’s important to tell the whole story so that citizens get the full picture.

First, the Notes make no mention of either Commissioner Roche’s comments or mine. We both expressed our deep gratitude to the citizens of the Mill Street neighborhood, and our appreciation for their participation in the process. Most importantly, we both stated our firm belief that the Text Amendment was entirely unnecessary. I specifically stated the much like the necessity of understanding the rules when you move into the historic district, it’s equally as important when a developer such as Brett Davis purchases a property, that we don’t simply tweak or change the rules to suit him. We both agreed that the existing code was a hard fought battle and a compromise for the entire neighborhood, such that there could be positive development of the school building, but still work towards the ultimate goal of individually owned units. I’m confused as to why such an important aspect of the discussion was omitted from the notes.

Second, the vote itself was important as well. Had we simply let the text amendment die without an up or down vote, then any future council could reintroduce the Amendment at any time and call for a vote. Thus, Brian and I both determined that it was necessary to close the matter once and for all, so I had to take the unusual but necessary step of introducing the motion so that we could all unanimously vote it down. Again, I think this was extremely important to relay to your readers that the Amendment was killed by us in its entirety so we’d never see it come before us again. There was a very real possibility that Pat could have taken it back to Planning and Zoning and worked on adjusting the language more and bringing it back before council.

Lastly, and solely for your edification, I think I would be remiss if I didn’t relay the behind the scenes work that Brian and I did on this matter. We met with a large group of Mill Street citizens for over an hour to listen to their concerns. When we took those to the City Manager, Planner, and Attorney, they began working on further adjustment of the language. When those were relayed to the interested parties on Mill Street, it was still clear that the text amendment was unnecessary and the existing language was fine and that the Text Amendment should be shot down.

I’m glad we achieved such a positive result and I greatly enjoyed meeting with the Mill Street residents and some CAN members and seeing firsthand their passion about getting the project right. I’ve always had a great affinity for the West End and Ward 1 as a whole, after having lived for many years on Willis Street, on Glasgow, and now in Longboat

Thank you for all that you do to keep citizens informed with the CAN notes and newsletter, and please don’t hesitate to come to me with future concerns.

Thanks
Chad (Ward 5 Commissioner Chad Malkus)

P.S. One quick note, Commissioner Cephas is “Sputty”, not “Spuddy”