To join this Dogtown area discussion forum write:
Thanks Bob,Gerry and Bill. Kristy and Linda live on one side of the 1526 Fairmount house to be blighted and I (Carol Nemeth) live on the other side of the 1526 Fairmount address. I would be most interested in attending the meeting on July 12th at 9 AM at City Hall. I don't want to drive downtown as I am hoping that there will be enough drivers that I can ride along. My concern is that to the best of my knowledge TOM BAUER has the inside STUFF on how to do things that are legal but I have to ask myself how ethical or moral are they? Why didn't he contact Margo to find out what was happening with the house. When I talked with her on Sunday she said that no one had tried to contact her or her husband. This probably wasn't necessary legally but it sure would have seemed like the right thing to do.I appreciate what you are trying to do here BOB. The problem for us on Fairmount is literally right next door. If this cancer is not caught in the beginning stages then it could spread throughout the whole of DOGTOWN. The man that lived in the 1526 Address is FLOYD HALL and his daughter's name is MARGO HALLl SMYTHE.....636/391/1966..... She and her husband Joe are the ones that need to get involved as well. I would say that most of us living in DOGTOWN are ignorant of the law and have trusted that Tom Bauer would be looking out for us or why else would we have voted him in.
I live next door to the house that has been blighted and am very concerned. There is NOTHING wrong with this house. It should not have been blighted. I am all for improving this neighborhood, and some of the houses that they have taken down did seem to be in disrepair, but why take a house that is in perfectly good condition and blight it? Does anyone have a good understanding of blighting? For example, the reason they blighted the property at 1526 Fairmount is because it is vacant. If someone moved in there, could the blighting process be stopped? Or could a private citizen buy the property and move in? I have so many questions and don't know where to get the answers. I am afraid that someone will try to take my home also, and fear that if there were plans to do that, I would be blissfully unaware of it until it's too late. I will be attending the meeting on the 12th. Also, I plan to contact Tom Bauer, but sadly, I fear he is not on our side. Is there anyone else we could call who may be of help to us?
I appreciate all who are getting involved in fighting this injustice. Thank you very much.
Linda
=================
Bob Corbett adds.
I call on each of you to first and foremost listen to your HEART. This woman is justifiedly worried about her own home. She is at the mercy of a political process that is run-away and an alderman who is serving the interests of the developers over that of the neighborhood people who voted him into office.
I plead with you to reach out and DO SOMETHING to help us stop this.
Secondly, I call attention to Linda's note, since I share so much with her. She is not and I am not opposed to development and even the development at the top of Fairmount.
This is about THE REST OF THE BLOCK. This is about THE REST OF DOGTOWN.
This is about FORCE. When people willingly without laws and bullying choose to sell their houses to developers or anyone else, I am not opposed to that. It is the use of the force of law and the even more subtle force of fear and sneaky power to get people's homes. This is a horrible thing to do to anyone who lives in a home and has planned their future there.
Put this close to your own heart. What would you be thinking if this were your block?
Clearly this woman is honestly and justly concerned about her home. Will Mr. Bauer next decide her house should be sacrificed to his notion of devleopment. What is the CITIZEN WILL in this. Are the citizens willing to turn this over the alderman unopposed and allow people in Dogtown to live constantly in fear of their houses being taken or they they themselves being sued by Mr. Bauer if they dare to speak up against him?
THIS BEHAVIOR MUST BE STOPPED.
Bob Corbett
I hate this kind of thing, too! What do they want to build there?
-----------
Bob Corbett replies:
At the top of Fairmount, at Mitchell some lots were purchased and about 4 or 6 houses were built on EACH side of the street.
My own view would be that it is of MUCH LESS concern what they built there -- modestly large tract-like houses -- than the issue of FORCING people out of their homes who are not wanting to sell them.
If the owner of the house or property WANTS to sell and can set a price and the would-be buyer can take it or leave it, or counter-offer, then I don't quarrel with that. Fair is fair and one's freedom is respected.
I am opposed to the use of blighting and condemning safe houses except in extreme cases.
-- the main reason is that so often people have no desire to move, no matter what the "money" is. It is HOME.
-- when this tool is used the people often get much less that what houses are actually selling for in the neighborhood.
(My son just purchased a house on Crescent last week. The house went up for sale and within a couple of hours there were 7 binds on it, every single one of them MORE than the asking price and my son's bid was a full 20% above the asking price. This is very typical of Dogtown real estate these days.)
-- My argument isn't that it isn't LEGAL to do use such tactics. The sad thing is that it is. But, I am appalled to see our alderman siding with the developers and not with the Dogtown residents.
-- This is creating a huge sense of FEAR in Dogtown that if a developer the alderman approves of wants to buy your house, then you will be forced to sell.
I think this must be stopped and the 24th ward people simply must rise up and stop this behavior.
Bob Corbett
the way aldermena bauer is using blighting is not right. it must be stopped.
where mr. bauer has gone with his blighting and law suits is not fair. my family, and our restaurant, pat's, would like to help stop this injustice. tom bauer, i have withheld thoughts and disparaging comments regarding your actions because for many years now i have agreed with much of what you believed was best for dogtown. but surely you must recognize the overstepping of your power and even the outrightebetrayal of the trust so many of us in dogtown put in you with our votes.
what happened? it does not matter. this is not right.
and to developers who plan to follow this game of attack to deny property owners their fair value, the opposition to your tactics has gained an ally in joe finn.
we will organize against developers who do not treat our neighbors fairly. i am sure we can find a local barristers who would be interested in stopping this injustice. i was willing to wait for the next election to change our alderman, but if someone will send me a recall petition, myself and my wife will sign it.
joe finn
custodian of irish americana @ pat's
and bob please share this with your network,
i offer the upstairs of pat'sd as a meeting place for any organizational needs.
i'll chip in the food, and some cheap drinks.
please let me know
314-749-4497
tom, are you going to sue me?
after all the times i have supported you?
if i do get sued i will need help with an attorney. any offers?
There is more to this plan than what has surfaced. Follow the money as Deep Throat told Bob Woodard. Who is really behind this project?? Who stands to gain if one man s home is taken so that a developer can build a bigger, more expensive home, apartment, condo, or big box store?
The recent U S Supreme Court case in the New London Conn. case decided in June 2005 will give hope to monied interests to develop big box stores and higher priced real estate condos and homes in the inner cities and so called blighted areas . The old rational that private property cannot be taken by the exercise of eminent domain (which includes taking upon payment of just compensation) seems to be going out the window with the test being switched from public use to public purpose as justification for the exercise of eminent domain.
Aldermen justify economic return to the city via real estate taxes, sales taxes etc to the disadvantage of poor residents, and I am sure Tom Bauer will have all kinds of explanations and reasons why he believes the plan is good for the City. The simple truth is that the Alderman is losing sight of the fact that people may not want to sell and move and an Alderman who gives the weapon of condemnation to a developer is putting more arrows in a developer's quiver than he is entitled to have. The property owner who resists does not have any counterpart weapons except reliance on a jury to assess damages for the fair market value of his property. This is a weapon but it takes a property owner with steel in his backbone who is wiling to go to court and fight a good fight for several years. In the meantime enough people have to get agitated and speak out to protest a blighting ordinance in order to defeat a redeveloper 's plans.
Ed Cody
=================
Bob Corbett asks:
Ed and others, there are those of us who want to stop this use of force to make people sell to developers. But, we really don't know HOW.
Any out there who can:
It is imperative we move quickly. The first public meeting on this in next Tuesday, just 5 days away.
HELP!!!!!
Bob Corbett
For those interested, there is a (Saaman) website with photos of four of the homes being built at the top of Fairmount on the west side. Its called Dogtown View and they start at $279,000. It looks as though 2 of the 4 are sold:
Fairmount Ave. Development HousesThanks so much for bringing attention to this problem. I grew up on Fairmount Avenue but now live in another part of the City. Most of the houses on Fairmount are (or were) in the same vein as the one pictured on your site.
I recently read in the Journal newspaper about the new development at the top of Fairmount on the west side and also the proposed development for the east side--upscale row houses which will start at $399,000. I wondered at the time who would buy "luxury" homes across the street from modest houses worth substantially less (regardless of how well they're kept up).
Now I know what these developers--potentially abetted by the aldermen--plan to do.
And then the new people won't have to look at those old, downscale homes.
Some of those who live on Fairmount now are second- (even third-) generation Dogtown residents who've lived in the same house for their entire lives. Now they are threatened with being forced to sell their family homes, only to see them demolished.
Where in Dogtown will they be able to move, considering current prices? Nowhere! So they'll be forced from not only their homes but also their neighborhood.
What will become of Dogtown then, when the people who really are Dogtown, are gone?
I was astonished when I went home last week and saw the destruction of my childhood neighborhood. Yes, the homes are small and in no way "luxurious", but they are/were the homes of hardworking, solid middle-class people in what used to be a close-knit community of neighbors who were friends.
I notice that new homes are also going up on Kraft, behind some of those proposed for Fairmount. How long until the "blighters" go after the similarly small, frame homes on Kraft? Or on Plateau? Or anywhere else in Dogtown that they like the view?
I mourn the loss of every tree that once flourished at the top of Fairmount. What will become of the 30-foot cedar tree that I transplanted from the Ozarks to our backyard when I was 6 years old? What will become of the white oak tree in our backyard, which is more than 100 years old and probably dates back to when the area was farmland? What will become of the Colorado blue spruce that my sister lovingly nurtured in our front yard?
More important, where will all of my one-time neighbors end up, especially considering that they may not be allowed to set a fair price for their homes as well as their memories?
After the recent, disastrous Supreme Court ruling on eminent domain, the battleground is at the local level of government. If people want to sell and if they can set their own price, more power to them. However, if people want to stay, they should not be forced out of their homes by the power of the Board of Aldermen. If they can be, then all of Dogtown is at risk.
Thanks for letting me put in my two cents. Even though I'm no longer a resident of Dogtown, I'll always have a Dogtown state of mind.
I just left a message on Tom Bauer's answering machine letting him know I was against this practice of blighting and making homeowners sell their homes. I will help in anyway I can to stop this. Please let me know how to, and where to go, and if there will be a meeting.
=============
Bob Corbett adds: This is progress. Mr. Bauer now has an answering machine. He assured us just a few days ago at a meeting that he had no answering machine and no secretary and would take calls personally.
I was worried that we might miss him if he were in court or busy preparing other papers to evict yet more residents. However, this is good news. He seems to have gotten an answering machine in the past few days, and you can now reach him to leave your own message even if he is away from the phone.
The number is:
314 - 481 - 2886
Please call and express your views. This is YOUR ward, not his. He is just a citizen like the rest of us.
Bob Corbett
Bob, Sure sad to hear the news about the changes being made and how they go about it. Never did trust developers. Some of the houses are getting old, and I can see the need to change some run-down, empty homes. But eminent domain stinks. Hope you can find someone that has some power. Lose Bauer. I was actually shocked to see the price paid for my old home. Also hope someone gets pictures of those big old homes on the large lots, because they will go fast. That area will make the developers drool, and once the steam rollers get moving, you will never recognize anything.
Good Luck. Lou
I agree with your assessment, we are loosing our God-given rights to money making entities. I stand ready to help in any way to defeat this un-American type of "progress?." Thanks for the info.
| HOME | DOGTOWN |
| Bibliography | Oral history | Recorded history | Photos |
| YOUR page | External links | Walking Tour |