04/28/1975 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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e charter retained. He reviewed the history of the Association and said the basic concern was that careful consideration be given to size of area and interests therein to assure a representative organization working with the entire area. He said a refinement plan was being prepared for the area and an organization is needed to provide a legitimate spokesman and views for discussion and resolution as that plan is being developed. (0557) Public hearing was ope;l\ed. Bob Guldin and Jim Coates, 860 Lawrence Street, said residents of the area had made a real and sincere ef~ort to become involved in the Downtown Westside Associaton but found it \(i.rtually impossible. Mr. Guldin said there had been only one general membe~ship meeting in the ten months since recognition of the group by the Council, ~lld that he felt the Association had not been fulfilling the function of opening itself to citizen participation. Rather it appeared to be involved with only one group of people in that neighborhood, and tenants or resi- dents have not had the opportunity to become involved. He thought that if the Charter were revoked then a general meeting of the entire neighborhood could be called, starting from that point in deciding whether the group should join another existing group or form a new one. Mr. Coates reviewed specific meetings of the Association and desdribed actions taken that appeared to preclude some people from participation, in particular the requirement for attendance of new members at a previous meeting before being eligible to vote. With only one general meeting, he said, many were denied the opportunity to vote. He said also that many volun- teered for work on committees or in publishing the newsletter but none were con- tacted, nor did they receive information about city activities in the neighborhood. He said the Association had been petitioned and every effort made to become active in that organization to no avail. -- Margaret Ellis, 2486 Grovedale Street, Springfield, said she owned C-2 property sur- rounded by other commercial uses. She said any reorganization of this group into a residential oriented organization would constitute discrimination against business interests in the area. (0726) Chester Pietka, 372 West 12th Avenue, thought the Council should have asked the Association for an answer in response to the petition filed for revocation of its charter. He pointed out that notices and publications of the newsletter had noti- fied people in the neighborhood of the Association's meetings. And that an attempt had been made to include all facets of the neighborhood in development of planning for the area - predominantly commercial with many long-term owner residents - in order to provide an area complimentary to the downtown mall. He questioned the credibility of the group requesting revocation of the Association's charter since there was no opposition presented at the time the charter was before the Council for recognition. He noted the spokesman for the group, Mr. Guldin, had lived in the neighborhood only two months, and that others who had attended the organizational meetings did not live there now. He said the Association had made every effort to work with the people involved in seeking the charter revocation and he thought the city should consider whether the organization had followed the terms of its charter in its meeting and notice requirements. e Minnie Schmidt, 2605 Lawrence Street, noted that some of the people signing the petition for charter revocation lived outside the neighborhood area, and that some were living in commercial buildings without adequate living facilities. She thought proof of residence in the area should be required and that the Council should de- clare the petition illegal. John S. Smeed, 3655 Glen Oak Drive, owner of property in the Downtown Westwide area, said the group initiating revocation of the Association's charter for the most part had lived in the neighborhood less than a year, and that the long-term residents 20e 4/28/75 - 3