Redevelopment, Who's In Charge?

So far, so good. Apparently Mayor Brookshire hasn't had the nerve to bring up his redevelopment plan again. Hopefully the matter is dead but who knows. With two new council men who haven't shown any great propensity to support the plan, the mayor may be a little less quick to revisit the matter.

Before the election when redevelopment was such a hot issue, the mayor stated several times that the the control of the redevelopment program was under the control/management of the Lenoir City Housing Authority (LCHA). Brookshire stated, "By allowing the LCHA to create a subsidiary, the city’s redevelopment efforts would be more effective since “they have (LCHA) different powers for redevelopment that the city doesn’t have.”  There seems to be some difference of opinion on the matter of who is in charge of redevelopment.

I recently received an email from Ms. Debbie Goodman of the LCHA that contradicts the mayor's statement on who controls the redevelopment program. See below.

Subj: LCHA Redevelopment 
Date: 11/8/2006 9:54:27 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: phalcha@bellsouth.net
To: van@vanshaver.com
Sent from the Internet (Details)
 
Mr. Shaver:
 
I was reading your site regarding the Redevelopment Plan.  The Redevelopment Plan is NOT under the control of LCHA.  LCHA turned over the powers to the City of Lenoir City.  LCHA staff does not attend any of the meetings and is in no way involved.  Once the powers were given to the City the LCHA involvement ended.
 
Debbie Goodman
Lenoir City Housing Authority

Now somebody's wrong. I tend to believe Ms. Goodman given the mayor's history of having trouble telling the truth in the past. City residents, city officials and property owners with in the planed redevelopment area need to keep a close eye on the what happens in the future with the redevelopment plan. Apparently, the city is in charge and that can't be good for anybody.

-v-

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