Miracle, Blindside, or Reality?

The Ripp Report
Dec. 11 2015

MIRACLE - BLINDSIDE - REALITY

MIRACLE Is it a miracle in Fairhope, that finally the Mayor has seen the light, or shall we say the public? On Dec. 7th, Planning and Zoning in Fairhope had a meeting to vote on a very controversial project, the Fly Creek PUD, Planned Unit Development, about 300 hundred people showed up. There were so many people that the meeting was held in the auditorium, which has no sound or video recording. Prior to the meeting the general consensus was it was a slam dunk to be approved. The audience listened to an engineering firm from Daphne, an environmentalist from Florida explain how a developer from Mississippi was going to build 240 “upscale apartments” on land owned by a non-resident of Fairhope, Arthur Corte. The audience was adamant in its position that they, the citizens of Fairhope, did not want apartments in that location. The original proposal’s sales point was that NO apartments would be developed in the PUD. The audience became agitated with the presentation and demanded a hand raised vote. Councilman Ford gave a passionate statement that apartments just did not fit the location. The Mayor then did something never seen in Fairhope, he voted against the project, and listened to the concerns’ of the citizens. Jennifer Fiddler, who always follows the Mayors lead, also voted no, resulting in a 5 no 4 yes vote. A Miracle.

BLINDSIDE In the TV show Survivor, contestants eliminate each other in competition, sometimes BLINDSIDING each other by cooperating with one another to eliminate a player. In the real life of Fairhope politics, this is common. We, the citizens of Fauxhope, have been BLINDSIDED so many times by City Hall that it has become the norm. The Triangle lawsuit is a good example, there was no public participation, and not one person was allowed to speak to the issue. In fact it was the ultimate BLINDSIDE, the council added the issue to an already printed council agenda, prior to a meeting, eliminating any public notification. The attorneys, Mayor, City Council and proponents settling the lawsuit, all were notified, the citizens were not, that cost the city 11.25 million dollars, of which 3 million represented attorney fees. The soccer fields, which started at 3.5 million went to 5 million and now appears to be heading to 7 million to complete, is another BLINDSIDE, and a cash cow for the good ole boys. The City of Fairhope has no finance committee, the Mayor handles the checkbook as well as the utilities, no forensic audit by an independent firm has ever been preformed, this may be the ultimate BLINDSIDE.

REALITY The people who attended, and those who did not, need to be aware of the possibility of a BLINDSIDE. The Ripp Report has had many calls informing us of the chaotic situation that existed after the meeting. The land owner acted like a “spoiled brat” according to a certain department head, threatening the Mayor and certain council persons with retaliation. Additional pressure from the engineering firm and developer was applied to the Planning Dept. Let’s hope it was a MIRACLE not a BLINDSIDE, don’t go to sleep, REALITY may raise its ugly head.