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CITY NEWS, INFO & EVENTS :: BUSINESS :: Downtown Developments :: Parkside Condominiums :: July 15, 2008, Update :: July 15 Pictorial of Protest PUBLIC PROTEST!  On July 15, 2008, in the late afternoon, at least 200 peaceful protesters, onlookers, and the press attended the "Stop Parkside" rally in front of Asheville City Hall, under the magnolia tree, the icon of the people's resolve to be heard.  Some talked seriously with each other.  Others applauded and enjoyed a speaker's good line.  Together they stood their ground and sent a strong message to the Buncombe County Commissioners and Parkside developer Stewart Coleman, as well as the Asheville City Council who were in work session above the folks on the ground.  The sun played its part too, reminding all that the glaring light and heat of public scrutiny would shine upon them all -- or at least until the wrong was righted. This is one issue that is not going away.  Many spoke publicly at the podium, to all who would hear, and promised that they would not let the scandal die.  Several played songs of protest, and one young man electrified the audience with his version of Jimi Hendrix's take on the national anthem.  Some recited poetry, even the young.  No matter their age, they were courageous to publicly speak at the podium, even with quivering voice. Each stood up to witness their feelings in front of God and everyone. They told "what for" to the Commissioners and Coleman. They told who they thought was right, who they thought was wrong, who had crossed the line, who would be held accountable, who ought to be tarred and feathered and riden out of town on a rail. The passion brought tears to some eyes, and a mighty proud heart to those much older and wise. Still others gathered signatures, as if the one or two or three thousand, maybe more, that had been gathered already by scores of volunteers was not enough.  And some planned future strategy. Some discussed forming ad hoc citizen groups. Others were members of grassroots groups and nonprofits designed to hold true to the common good. And the media took it all in -- be it print, radio, web or the local television. Most who attended were beyond spitting mad that they were not being heard by their elected officials to end the crisis. Many demanded that the politicians stop playing chicken -- and stop being chickens -- and take back the sold, maybe stolen, parkland. The key to the future of Asheville's developing central park was the tree and Stop Parkside this day was more than a speed bump for the Coleman clan to have its as-usual unopposed way. The people at the rally were determined to make sure that the will of the people, at least this time, would not be bulldozed down. Their resolve was thick. Their outrage palpalable. The people inside the city council chamber were either for or agin Coleman and associates real-time, real-life, monopoly-like game. The people had enough of the machinations of the local elite and powerful. The people brimmed with questions amongst each other and at the podium. Who works for who? Who are the public servants? Who is the villian? Who is the foe? Who is a good person? Who is bad? These questions will probably end up in the history books -- with a possible outcome that's shameful and sad. One thing is certain, the battle to save or destroy the people's plaza rages. It's history in the making. It's a real turn-pager of story that will be told over and over and over again. Some are writing in their journal. Some are listening intent. Some are just there to be there to sit with old friends, and savor the blue skies and the breeze and the sunshine from above, God's tent. All were part of this epic struggle this July 15, for each stood in the crossroad of StopParkside.org and LiveParkside.com: one heartfelt forwarding the people's right to question and know, the other spun by ad copywriters just doing what they do: laying down smooth copy to entice the wealthy to buy a slice of a coming high-rise haven. It's all up in the air. This Parkside condo is far from being built. Despite the slow creep through official channels, this project may still become dog meat. Each in his or her own way, even the casual observer, was for at least on this sunny day, were a part of the live action cast of Asheville's someday to be written by a playwright, perhaps with a working title of The Parkside Players -- or maybe something slightly more poetic, such as The Summer of '08. Unfortunately, the reason for the rally was not a dream, and not just an idle show. It was and remains a nightmare, a slow motion train wreck, a hot plate issue that is burning the city and county -- the politicians and the public -- apart. On one side of the Parkside debate are primarily conservatives and neo-cons who feel that their ideology of private interests speaks louder, no matter the circumstances. They support Parkside, or at least stand shoulder to shoulder with the developer to do what he wants to do. On the other side of the Parkside divide are the liberals and progressives who want to preserve the park and the historic city hall for future generations to enjoy. And who is in the middle? There is no middle ground. The great middle class must choose which camp is more on their side. The July 15 rallying crowd and its decidedly bias speakers demanded definitive political action by their elected officials to make the people whole again carry the day. And Stewart Coleman was nare to be found on the ground, because he was up with the City Council that day. He was telling them how he wanted things, and how he had to be made whole, to the tune of $4.5 million on what cost him somewhere around $1.5 million, maybe $2 million, to acquire and propose to date. How whole is whole? is the question. How much meat can his Black Dog Realty take? How big should this developer's loaf of payday bread be? Or should his loaf be broken apart, because favoritism and good-ol'-boy-ism has no place here anymore. Is it simply that the whole means there is a hole in someone's portfolio that needs to be filled? as one demonstrator who helped organize the event continues to press upon and wants someone to uncover and expose. Follow the money, say the people. It will lead you to the truth that must be shown. The speakers at the rally speak up The audience listens with their minds made up. The police smile for the camera because their workday is not yet up. The placards are All-American: earnest, passionate, straightforward fare; just as the people who bear them over their heads in the air. It's democracy in action this July 15. It's real and true and direct. It's democracy alive and well. It's local history in the making. It might be national history in the making, too. For sure, it's an event made for the people, by the people, of the people. It's good ol' American glue. What binds us is greater than what divides us. Yes, that old adage, seems so fresh, immediate, spontaneous, anew. And for that, some say, thank God. Others say, thank Mother Nature. Still others say, thank America's forefathers -- and while we're at it, thanks to America's foremothers, too. The people on the ground know change is coming, as this July 15 rally in Asheville is proof positive that it's not just change for change's sake, it's change that is long overdue. This day, this July 15, 2008, might well mark the highwater mark of the old guard. This day, this July 15, '08, might well beginning of something much bigger than anyone's petty point of view. This day, this July 15, might be the day of a new hammer, the hammer of demand, the power of the people's hammering for justice, held firmly in both hands. Held with right hand and with a left hand, too, united, all knowing, finally, all willing, to accept that its together we prosper and are at peace when the one hand knows what the other hand is doing. These hands, this hammer, this banging on the closed doors of government might well break through. To bring in the light of day, the transparency in government that is so sorely needed -- be it local, be it regional, be it state, be it national -- because many who came this July 15 knows deep in their heart of hearts, that this city, this county, this country cannot keep on the path that is has been on for way too long. It's the people's time to speak up and be heard.  Parkside is proof; however, that all politics are local. And that's all that the demonstrators outside wanted to talk about. They wanted for city council to act, do something more than hand the old proverbial hot potato back in the lap of the folks who started the whole mess next door. But that's just what this Asheville City Council did in their work session during the July 15 demonstration. They decided that their next chess move was to move a pawn one square ahead.  After deliberating in closed session for about a half hour the council said it stood by its previous resolution, that's what they had the mayor say. She reiterated that the Asheville City Council's June 10, 2008, resolution, which had demanded that Buncombe County Commissioners fix the Parkside problem that they, the commissioners, had created was good enough of an answer, at least on this day. Because everyone knows that the city council still has a lot of chess players on the board to play against the commissioners another day. But the people in the park this day had much more to say than the mayor or the council. They spoke of a morally bankrupt planning and zoning and building approval system. They spoke against the technocrats who worked in a faulty system that is stacked in favor of the developers. They spoke against all the money that ties the hands of the so-called gatekeepers. They spoke for themselves and said they would no longer eat cake and cake and go away. Many of the protesters this July 15, 2008, openly discussed and demonstrated their disgust. When asked, they spoke their mind. They spoke against what many see as a backroom, even illegal, real estate kind of thing. Many wanted the city council members, who had previously demanded unanimously in writing that the Buncombe County Commissioners reacquire the people's parkland, to do much more this day. Many wanted the county to come forward if not this day, on another day, to say that they now hang their head in shame, and did in fact wrongfully sell the land to the controversial, sometimes hotheaded, Parkside high-rise condo developer Coleman. Many kept shaking their heads when the county, in its turn, with it June 24, 2008, resolution told the city that it was up to the city to step up to the plate. That the city was the one to clean up home plate, and be good little folks and shut up and stop whining and swap some valuable land. And the developer and his hatchet men sit and listen and tighten the thumb screws no those who hold the power to solve in their hand. But, no, the city didn't blink on July 15. It obviously didn't like to be told what to do. It reinterated what some thought was going to be the outcome of their work session" the June 10 resolution stands In layman terms, the city council members told the county commissioners: We've told you before. Clean up your own mess. And the rally continued on as city council, and onlookers, and developer, and press, twisted and turned in their second-floor seats to do what they do: try and figure out this Parkside condundrum. Outside, the drama, the speeches, the music played on.  Folks were particularly reminded about the annual Shindig on the Green, and how it had played mightily under the magnificent magnolia for at least four generations in a row. Outside, on the ground, the common folk jaw-boned about the scandal. Outside, on the grass, on the lawn, under the sun and under the magnolia, the rally went on. The bluegrass musicians and rock-n-rollers played and played and the people kept wanted to be heard. Many reminded the other, singing to the choir, that this parkland is the public's land, not the developer's land. And that's the bottom line. Whatever it takes, said many that day, is up to the politicians to work it out and decide. But the people know, as this sprawling middle class gathering showed, that this lawn is their lawn. That this City-County Plaza is where the real rubber meets the road, and that this land is nothing if it's not the people's home. Yes, the Parkside saga spins on and on. The tale is epic. It's worth a song. This real-life experience has so many lessons for all to learn. It's far better, by some estimatess, than any beach book one might read this summer? This rally was an invitation for others to follow and meet and experience what they now know from the tops of their heads to the bottom of their feet. They know there is a power, something special, about sitting and talking and eating and singing and jaw-boning under this magnificent magnolia tree. It's simple, but it clear that when one hears stories from the horses' mouths, they don't need any writer or poet to make things clear. They know what they know, and it stays deep inside. No word, not here, not anywhere, can communicate this real experience that only public gathering can bring. It's something so basic, so human, so pure. So, Asheville and America, keep gathering, keep talking, keep siinging your songs and stories. Maybe someday your children and grandkids will remind you of this day. In the meantime, the fingers keep pointing. The city contends that the county had broken a trust, a decades-old agreement between the city and the county. The city says that this understanding states in no uncertain terms that neither party -- neither the city or the county -- would ever do anything detrimental to the preservation of City-County Plaza without first notifying the other. Even County Chairman Nathan Ramsey agreed that the city should have been consulted beforehand. But why weren't they consulted? Why didn't Ramsey or any of the other commissioners or the county manager walk next door and have a quick little talk with one of the city council members or city manager? Why didn't someone from the county just say, "Hey, we're thinking of selling the magnolia to a developer who will chop it and build a high-rise that will be on your front lawn? What do you say? So what do you think? Do you like the idea? Or what? Why didn't anyone from the county talk to anyone from the city before this dirty land deal was done? That's what a good reporter will find out. That's what a good newspaper will write about. That's a question worth digging for. Supposedly, there is an agreement between the city and the county that says notification to the other party was required. So why wasn't it done? And if it wasn't done, does that mean that any contact is by it's very essence, illegal? And if it's illegal, does that mean you can't have a binding real estate contract? If it's an illegal sale, then how is it enforceable? A person can't go and cut a deal with a thief, get him to sign a contract, and then go to the police and a judge with contract in hand and complain if the thief doesn't honor the contract. An illegal contract is unenforable. Is the Parkside land deal illegal and unenforceable?  So many questions and so few people with the answers who are willing to say what they know.  Said another way, a more journalistic way, one could say: The county's unilateral action that allowed for the sale of the public parkland to Coleman's private interests was in direct violation of that understanding and an affront to the people's right to a transparent government.  And the Parkside rumors continue to fly around town like a price tag tied to a tree, swinging in the breeze, just hanging out there, ready to be examined and researched. One thing about rumors in Asheville. More often than not there is an ounce or more of truth to them. Some whisper that the outrageous parkland sale by the county was simply payback to the city, which has tussled publicly and vehemently with the county over water rates and ownership. Is that rumor true? Some just have given up on the whole affair? They say, these cynics, and it's easy to become one of them and say, "Heck, why not just sell city hall to Coleman while they're at it, so he can convert them into condos, too. Yes, some cynics are totally disgusted with all five commissioners and their dirty deed. Others who visit the tree now recount happier times under their special magnolia. One couple had told protesters a few days prior to the rally that their wedding was performed under this "marriage tree," believed by some to have unique powers of fertility.  Asheville mayor Terry Bellamy delivered her no-new-news message at approximately 6 p.m., July 15, in the second-floor council chamber in Room 201 of city hall to a quietly seated group of Stop Parkside protesters and Parkside supporters, which included Stewart Coleman (right, seated above) of Black Dog Realty, purchaser of the parkland. Bellamy made her announcement with the entire City Council in attendance, save Brownie Newman.  The mayor said nothing new about how the city or county might resolve the Parkside problem. She added that council members remain open to assist the county in land swap negotiations, although she did not elaborate. Upon hearing the news, most of the crowd left immediately. After the council's work session was completed -- which involved the need to fill six vacancies on the Parks and Recreation Commission -- the meeting was adjourned. Mayor Bellamy then walked out to talk with a handful of protesters who remained after the lively protest earlier in the day. Council member Holly Jones also spoke with some of the protesters under the magnolia. Under the magnolia, the mayor spoke quietly for awhile with Dixie Deerman, a.k.a. Lady Passion, and recognized those who continued their ongoing 24/7 vigil to save the 100-year-old magnolia and stop Coleman's Parkside development. Deerman, who had hoped for some new action at the city council's work session -- such as the city becoming a part of the Pack heirs' lawsuit that demands return of the parkland -- expressed her disappointment to the mayor.  In summary, the city told the county, again -- second verse same as the first -- to clean up the Parkside poop it had dropped on the citizens' front lawn.  The citizens attending the July 15 rally cheered when speakers, such as former city council candidate and journalist Cecil Bothwell (pictured above), reminded them that the November elections were approaching.  The 24/7 vigils under the magnolia will apparently continue with Lady Passion (above) and others protecting the tree from the hatchet men. Coleman, now armed with the Technical Review Committee's recent stamp of approval in his back pocket, creeps toward his condo payday. Coleman is pulling out all stops to get his way. According to newspaper reports, he has threatened the city, saying he will move his high-rise even closer to the edge of his boundary, if he doesn't get his way. He will ruin the viewshed even more. So is all lost? Maybe. Maybe not. Who could have asked for better summer reading than this? The Parkside Players continue to play it out, and at times it gets more tense than a poker came with all guns on the table. Yes it's all going down right here in sweet river city. In the civic heart of Downtown Asheville, the epic struggle of private versus public interests grinds forward at a torturously slow rate. Public outrage grows. Some suggest that a blue ribbon investigation is the only way to sort through the mess. And can the public count on major media, perhaps national media, to spend serious money to get to the bottom of how it all began, how parkland could be sold unilaterally by one local government and not approved by another?
So many questions and so many people who refuse to return telephone calls and, if they do, give nothing-answers to real questions.  So the press keeps filming.  The photographers keep clicking. The pressure builds. The Pack heirs lawsuit is not dead. Not yet.
But the case is not being handled by a major out-of-town law firm, as it should. Maybe someone big, such as WNCW law firm in Atlanta, might take up the case, pro bona, for the love of the people -- or at least for the love of publicity. Because, baby, this story has NATIONAL written all over it. The Parkside Players, the big players in this small pond of a mountain town, just don't believe this whole Parkside affair is such a big deal. But they are blind. The day might well come when some of the Parkside Players find that a screw can screw both ways. Time will tell.  Grassroots organizations, such as Asheville PARC (People Advocating Real Conservancy), continue to distribute flyers (above) that encourage citizens to become involved by contacting locally elected officials, as well as write letters to the media. As the days and weeks wear on, more grassroots organizations and smart folks who care about the common good are quietly entering the battle and sharpening their swords. The public flexed its collective voice to stop Parkside on July 15. It is only a beginning, a starting point, a place to build upon. This flexing of public muscle and might and will and inquiry is far from over. In fact, the questioning and outrage has just begun. There's something for everyone in this seething scandal. It's the biggest news story in the past 10 years, save the Bobby Medford trial and soon-to-be announced sentencing. Young folks don't want they're sweet mountain town screwed up either. That was obvious at the July 15 rally to Stop Parkside. The young spoke up and so did the old.
And so did one man in particular, who said he was honored to be asked to speak. He spoke at the podium with clarity and humor. He gave the wisdom of his years to an appreciative crowd. His words won't be forgotten. They will grow in the hearts and souls of all who love Asheville. Petitions continue to be signed. People continue to sign up to be counted on to enter the good fight to save the magnolia and save the park. Some folks continue to wonder why city council still has passed no building height restrictions, as did Hendersonville not so long ago. To date, build it tall and taller is the builder's mantra in Asheville. And the politicians seem to be their biggest cheerleaders.
In all fairness, some say city council is waiting for the new Downtown Master Plan report to be delivered in October and be supported by the majority of citizens before moving ahead with height restrictions, at least in certains areas of center city. Yes, Tuesday, July 15, was a day when Ashevillians on the green spoke out against corruption and arrogance and greed of the few, by the few, for the few.  It was a day when entrepreneurs spoke up for the common good, too, not just for their private interests. It was a day that the people took back their park, if but for an afternoon.  It was a day that any thinking person could-would-should-can-will appreciate. Yet, the final outcome of the Parkside problem and repairing the people's trust remain very much up in the air. Is anyone taking bets on the outcome? And the heat goes on. But for how long? Who will blink first? Who will get too hot? Who will cut their losses? Through it all, the people watch. In the end, this time, the will of the people will be heard. Be it now, or in the next election. -Report and photos filed by Byron Belzak, DowntownAsheville.com Copyright 2008 MEDIABEAR dta8parksidejuly15updatebb1 |
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