Ash Creek Closing??? Why??? Opinion Letters

Dallas Morning News Sunday Letters: Jan. 7, 2007


Ash Creek Action Deliberate by Earl Ashe
Response to: "Landlord failed the park," Sunday Letters. (see below)
.....We at Save Ash Creek Homes object to Ferguson Road Initiative president William M. Coleman's recent characterization of what happened to Ash Creek Mobile Home Park.
.....The park began its sense of history and place in 1949 and was incorporated into the city in 1952. It was granted a grandfather clause in the 1960s. In the 1980s, the city did something to hammer grandfathering, but the owner was never notified. We were blindsided in 2005 by Dallas City Council member Leo Chaney's Ferguson Road Initiative.
.....Although the City Plan Commission voted unanimously to give the owner an opportunity to correct problems, Mr. Chaney made sure that the owner would never be given an honest chance. He sent FRI warriors to lay siege to our community.
.....The park's owner needed to be held to account, not nuked. Mr. Chaney sent Assistant City Attorney Jennifer Richie to finish off the owner with a growing list of unreasonable code demands.
It was Mr. Chaney and his FRI agents who destroyed our unique community.
Earl Ashe, Save Ash Creek Homes, Dallas

Letter above referenced the Sunday letter below:

Dallas Morning News Sunday Letters: Dec. 31, 2006
Landlord Failed the Park by William Coleman
Response to: "Fight over mobile home park ends with eviction .... residents call move unfair" Dec. 16 Metro.
.....We at the Ferguson Road Initiative object to recent press concerning the closing of the Ash Creek Mobile Home Park. We work hard to improve the standard of living for everyone in our area. Since 1998, we have aggressively improved and removed businesses that fail city code requirements. We have never shied from confronting landlords who do not maintain their properties.
.....Our efforts to clean it up have been mischaracterized as an attempt to remove the park. The owner failed to take responsibility for his property. We are sorry that he did not care enough about his tenants or his community to be a responsible landlord by rectifying problems at the park and following the same rules we all have to abide by. Unfortunately, he made the residents victims.
.....Upon learning of the owner's eviction of the residents near the holidays, we established a fund to aid residents in relocating. To help, visit our Web site at www.fergusonroad.org.
William M. Coleman, President, Ferguson Road Initiative, Dallas