(PENSACOLA) --- The blatant back-room deal politics brought Sherri Myers back up to the podium for the second Leroy Boyd Forum.
All the Zen energy the former councilwoman had during the first public comment portion of the meeting quickly disappeared.
She acknowledged the same.
Sherri Myers makes it clear, the rich get richer here while less-forutnate population suffers
"I did learn when I was watching the Buddhist monk walk for peace, that it's about justice, compassion, and love, and treating people the way they should be treated," Myers said before reminding Council President Allison Patton that she said she felt sorry for an elderly woman who was defrauded.
She brought up the story before she spoke against an agenda item approving the land donation and agreement with the Community Land Trust for the 925 East Jackson affordable housing project. Don't get Myers wrong, she will let you know she is all about affordable housing, but it's the smoke and mirrors around the deal that really gets her.
That's when Myers went straight from Zen to really angry. The kind of anger that makes you stop and really listen to every word.
"I've been on that dais for 12 years, and I have seen one rich person after another come here and get favors, and one big favor is going on on Palafox right now," Myers said. "The rich, the powerful, and the well-connected get anything they want, but here is a poor woman who obviously is elderly and has a disability."
Myers cited three Florida statutes that show Patton and other officials are responsible for the "exploitation of a person and her condition based on her facts".
"Florida statute 825103 provides criminal protection against the financial exploitation of the elderly and disabled," Myers said, before noting the other two. "So when your gut tells you that somebody has been defrauded, you should have reduced that line."
At the very least, Myers ended by saying, "The next time you do favors for the rich, the powerful, and the well-connected, I want you to remember this case."
Council President Allison Patton taken by surprise at Sherri Myer's comments
The Memorandum makes the deal sound all above board, but smoke and mirrors will do that. OpGov.ai picked up Myers' point of view, noting she "acknowledged not opposing affordable housing but provided historical context for the 925 East Jackson Street property, noting it was the site of the Malcolm Yonge Community Center gym."
The platform also noted she "criticized the mayor for demolishing the gym during a petition drive to save it, which she viewed as a violation of First Amendment rights." Lastly, the platform reports Myers "expressed that while she's glad for habitat housing, she's not glad about 'the way that it came about,' suggesting an abuse of governmental power."
Memorandum summary of 925 East Jackson Street Habitat at Malcom Yonge
In 2023, any movement toward the redevelopment of the Malcolm Yonge Gym began to die down.
Myers reminds us that while a petition drive to save the gym was underway, Mayor D.C. Reeves decided to play lower-case god in Pensacola, as you can read in the memorandum summary, noting that by February 2024, the "City Council awarded a contract under Bid No. 24-001 for the Malcolm Yonge Gym demolition.:
The next month, the "CRA discussed the plans for redevelopment of 925 E Jackson Street, authorizing the "Mayor to dispose of the parcel via direct negotiation with a community land trust non-profit organization, to be selected via established criteria listed in the required public notice."
It's not rocket science, reader. The timeline is so quick that it is impossible to believe they were ever going to save that gym.
Architectural design for Habitat at Malcolm Yonge
However, let's play devil's advocate and say they were. But what about the older woman who was defrauded without officials blinking an eye?
As Myers suggests, consider that case as they continue to build up Palafox just the way Mayor Reeves wants it.
Just saying, something for you to consider.
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