A Message From The President
The long overdue demolition of 4350 Nottingham St. took place recently. Video courtesy of Nicolas Hall
Those of us who are longtime Detroiters sometimes express pessimism about the ability of City departments to “get things done.” So, we also need to give credit when our complaints and issues are successfully addressed. Three recent examples of success here in MorningSide demonstrate my point.
On Nottingham Street, neighbors led by AJ White requested the emergency demolition of a firedamaged house. With support from MorningSide leadership and the efforts of our D4 Department of Neighborhoods managers, this ‘crispy critter’ was torn down on September 17, within two months after our original complaint. Several days later another longtime eyesore at 5027 Courville was also demo’d.
A longer-term problem has been the terrible condition of many of the sidewalks at our Three Mile-Munich park. Thanks to the untiring work of Susan Newell and the Three Mile Block Club, last week I spotted City engineers from the Department of Public Works marking multiple sidewalk sections for replacement. Hopefully we’ll be seeing brand new sidewalks around the park before the snow flies.
Last month in The Morningsider I wrote about the work of the Nuisance Abatement Program under the Detroit Land Bank Authority. It is my pleasure to report that on October 6, the DLBA filed a nuisance abatement lawsuit against MorningSide’s most negligent slumlord for more than a dozen vacant houses within our boundaries.
Included in the lawsuit filing were nine letters of support from MorningSide residents who live near one of these nuisance properties. Huge props go out to those neighbors who took the time to write up their thoughts to help the City’s case. A second lawsuit is scheduled to be filed this week against the owners of several additional MorningSide vacant properties.
In closing, I wish to offer a few thoughts on the untimely passing of former MorningSide President O’Dell Tate. During his years as our President, O’Dell showed great skill at getting City departments to deliver services to the neighborhood. His talents shone even brighter when he became our Department of Neighborhoods Manager for District 4. He never lost faith in the abilities of community and government to work together for neighborhood improvement.
Mayor Mike Duggan and former MCO President, O'Dell Tate. Image courtesy of Matthew Franklin
One great memory is the day that O’Dell brought Mayor Mike Duggan to the Spirit of Love church on Mack, where he met with a small group of MorningSiders in what turned out to be his first mayoral campaign appearance in 2013. O’Dell was especially adept at building bridges with religious leaders. His deep faith and respect for everyone almost always resulted in positive outcomes for our community.
Let us all be inspired by the life and accomplishments of O’Dell and continue to challenge and collaborate with our government officials to seek a brighter future for MorningSide.
