We keep hearing the same theme, to listen to all and represent all of Meadville from the Vote for Meadville campaign. Although, they seem to not want to include those who disagree with them, so if you want "transparency and inclusion", you likely won't get it from them. In fact, you'll likely find yourself blocked from their Facebook page. We don't have the time, nor the energy, to find all of the posts of people who have been blocked by this group, but there are many.
On the other hand, if you want them to leave unsolicited flyers under your doors when they campaign for your support, they're your people.
Do they really mean that they will listen to all, and represent all of Meadville? Maybe not exactly.
As you recall, the claim is that local elites, or the wealthy few, have all of the power in the City. At least that's the claim of the VFM camp.
This is interesting, because those individuals, and college students, who live in the city of Meadville actually could have more of a voice than those who may only "own a lot of real estate." Even those who own a business within the city but don't live there don't have the same voice as those who do, and those who attend Allegheny College. Why do we say this? Voting.
If you don't reside within the city limits, you cannot vote for those in power within the city. This means the only way for these individuals to have their voices heard is at city council meetings.
But, who are these "local elites" that they speak of? According to their own Facebook page;
But also from the VFM page;
So, it's okay for them to bully or attack this specific group? How can you state civility, when on your own page you have openly expressed your disgust with a particular group? Do you know the definition of civility?
Formal politeness and courtesy in behavior or speech.
We forgot this campaign is about "do as I say, not as I do."
For your information, we have yet to be able to find a specific case where this "local group" has been able to influence Council on any votes as they relate to "decisions that affect our community", aka the city's budget, or investing in parks or the like. The only instance where a local group of "elites", as they call them, has shown up to give strong input was for a Covid-19 task force. Their reasoning was that those who were fighting to push this, the same ones who knock on our doors, were doing so under the false premise of it being related to the pandemic. In fact, the actual reason for them trying to form a task force was for a housing inspection program. The letter they supported had nothing at all to do with the effects of Covid. As always, we have that proof for you.
From Meadville Council meeting on May 20, 2020.
However, later in the meeting, Lee's soon-to-be wife (Aug 2021), Autumn, changed the task force to be about Covid-19.
Of course, if you question the connection between Autumn and Lee, you can find their marriage license on record.
Autumn and Larry, upon this motion to form a task force being tabled, asked for the public to provide input on the said task force.
The next meeting of which discussions would occur would be on June 3, 2020.
There were 6 letters received regarding the task force:
Coalition on Housing Needs - Supporting (Information below)
Jeff F. - Not Supporting
Karen K. - Not Supporting
Petition from 233 residents - Supporting (Information below)
10 Point Rentals - Not Supporting
Bryer Properties - Not Supporting
The petition contained signatures from others who were not city residents, and also signatures of those who showed up and spoke at the meeting;
In total 16 individuals chose to speak at the meeting. Of those, 9 were opposed, 3 were undetermined, 3 said yes, and 1 was unrelated. Some of those undetermined, or stating no, were community partners that would seemingly help with this task force.
City Council also received the following letter regarding the formation of said task force. This was the letter Lee Scandinaro had sent asking the Mayor to form a housing task force. See something missing?
If you are missing the part where this is about Covid-19, you're on the right track. Makes you scratch your head just a little, right? We thought this was supposed to be about Covid. Why is this so focused on housing?
Are we misunderstanding, or are you misrepresenting? A rose by any other name is still a rose. What's the real story here?
McKnight continues on to state the following;
That's great and all, but the coalition's letter was for a housing task force, not a Covid-19 task force.
Let's be clear, if this was in fact just about Covid, other members of the Council would have supported the movement.
A reminder of what this task force propsed in regard to housing;
Then, the vote.
In this instance, the council listened to those who showed up to the meeting and asked to speak.
The basis of their disapproval of the task force stemmed from the misrepresentation of what the task force would in fact help with. What this task force would accomplish, that could not already be accomplished by another committee and/or agency already established within the City, was never outlined.
It seems as though this group is good at hiding their true intentions, misrepresenting facts, and doesn't really want to hear from all individuals or groups, especially if those views disagree with theirs, and especially if they're landlords.
The same group that marches up and down our streets are the same people who participated in this move to hide the facts of their true intended purpose. This has nothing to do with us at all, once again, they are always pushing the bigger narrative. These same people, in these same groups, are part of the larger group of PA United. If you haven't read up on this yet, go read the blog titled:
We're sure you recognize some of these folks from Common Roots, Crawford County United, PA United, NAACP, etc.
Who really are the ones trying to influence the City government and have all of the power and voices? Why are they trying to silence a specific group?
Mind you, if you want to be part of their "group", you need to pay to do so.
What else are they hiding from us?
We deserve better for Meadville, we deserve officials who answer when we ask questions, who don't try to silence any individuals or groups, who don't try to hide true intentions, and who will have open discussions with business owners as well as individuals. If they represent the people, they should probably include all of them, not just the select groups and populations where they have control.
For the record, "local elites" who pay taxes within the City are entitled to a voice. This actually goes for anyone who pays taxes to the City. Ever heard of taxation without representation?
The phrase taxation without representation describes a populace that is required to pay taxes to a government authority without having any say in that government's policies.
There are, however, business owners who live outside of the City and pay taxes to the City, that cannot vote for who represents them in the City, because they do not reside within the City. Therefore, their only means to have their voice heard is to attend a Council meeting, and/or write to Council. How is this going with the VFM group having full control over Council? Are these individuals or groups being shut out or disregarded?
Before they try to silence anyone, they should be careful they aren't stomping on the rights of those who actually do pay taxes to the City.
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