Daily Outtakes: Residents fight for neighborhood, lose

Last Thursday’s Escambia County Commission meeting revealed deep tensions over a proposal to convert the former Henry T. McMillan School in the Englewood neighborhood into affordable housing units. Once again, the opinions and concerns of the Black residents were discounted by the White majority in the name of the greater good.

• The meeting highlighted the ongoing challenges communities face when balancing affordable housing needs with neighborhood concerns about development, communication, and community involvement.

The Proposal

AMR at Pensacola, represented by interim executive director Nanette Chandler, applied for HOME-ARP (American Rescue Plan) funding to create 53 affordable housing units at the former McMillan School site. The proposal requested $2,536,987 to purchase the property and convert two wings of the school building into housing for residents earning 30-50% of the area median income, primarily targeting people aged 50-60.

• “This is affordable housing for residents that are 50% and less of the median income of our area. That is the only thing that’s happening,” Chandler explained during the meeting.

The project would include community amenities like gardens, outdoor exercise areas, and a dog park. AMR’s plans showed the housing would be confined to the two school wings, with future phases potentially incorporating the school’s cafeteria and recreation space for community use.

Background: The registered agent for the non-profit is James J. Reeves. Its officers and directors include Kevin Hagen, Hal George, Alicia Christy, Victor Bindi, James Warwick, Gus Allen, Katin Davis and Cedric Alexander. Reeves contributed to the campaigns of four commissioners in the last election cycle: Steven Barry $1,000, Lumon May $1,000, Steve Stroberger $500 and Ashlee Hofberger $1,800, plus another $1,000 from his RV resort. Kevin Hagan contributed $1,000 to Hofberger – Cedric Alexander $250, and Victor Bindi $500.

Community Resistance

Residents from the Englewood and Shantytown communities arrived at the meeting upset, having only recently learned about the project through a PNJ article. Several speakers expressed feeling blindsided and disrespected by the lack of community engagement.

• Barbara Hale, a resident representing the Englewood community, passionately addressed the commission: “Once again, commissioners, you’re getting ready to do another injustice to our community… Nobody told us, nobody invited us nowhere, but it just [was] put in the paper, and that’s how we found out about it.”

Many residents expressed concerns about their historic community being targeted for projects they view as potentially harmful. Several speakers noted the neighborhood’s rich history, with Betty Carter mentioning she’d lived in the district “all my life.”

Fears of “Dumping”

A recurring theme in residents’ comments was the fear that their neighborhood was becoming a “dumping ground” for unwanted facilities. Residents referenced a previous experience with the Waterfront Mission, which they had opposed but was established in their neighborhood anyway.

• “All I’m asking is to put homeless buildings in our area. You don’t know who you putting in there,” Hill said. “You can put pedophiles and stuff like that. People like that there. We are a community, which we don’t have that much.”

Pastor Larry Watson of Englewood Baptist Church, with 84 years of history in the community, remarked: “We’re kind of blindsided by whatever’s coming… Our community, it seems like not just our community, but black communities are being targeted.”

Dig Deeper: Much of the tension stemmed from misunderstanding the project’s purpose. Many residents believed it would be a homeless shelter or transitional housing facility, but Chandler clarified: “Let me first apologize to everyone who has endured the stress of thinking that you have a homeless project coming into your community. That is not what we’re seeking to do.”

• She explained that the HOME-ARP funding “cannot be used for transitional housing, cannot be used for community housing and cannot be used for homelessness.” Instead, the project would provide stable, affordable housing for people at risk of housing instability.

The meeting also highlighted existing infrastructure problems in the neighborhood. As has happened so often, instead of focusing on all the commissioners, they went after only the Black commissioner, not accepting that it takes three votes to get anything done on the board.

Rosa Johnson, a resident for over 70 years, criticized Commissioner Lumon May for not addressing basic needs: “We are still walking on dirt. I’ve talked to you personally about a sidewalk. Our children have to walk in the middle of the street in order not to have dirt.”

• Commissioner May defended his record, stating the county had invested “over $12 million worth of sidewalks in Englewood” and was planning a new $5 million community center for the area.

Commissioner Hofberger’s Personal Experience

Commissioner Ashlee Hofberger made the motion to proceed with the project, defending her position with her personal narrative:

• “When I was 14, my parents divorced, and my mom was raising me on a salary, and she made $12 an hour, and we moved in with a coworker. And if we wouldn’t have moved in with her coworker, I don’t know where we would’ve lived.”

Hofberger emphasized that the goal of the ARPA funds was to “elevate the entire community by providing opportunity for those who need it most.” She pushed back against resistance to providing housing for vulnerable populations, noting that affordable housing doesn’t have to stigmatize a neighborhood.

• “We need to make it something that elevates the community that we can be proud of, and we need to make it something like when you drive by, you don’t know that it’s attainable or affordable housing. It’s just another apartment complex,” Hofberger stated, advocating for high-quality development to benefit the entire community.

The Communication Gap

Perhaps the most significant issue revealed during the meeting was the communication gap between county officials, developers, and residents. Pastor Watson articulated this concern: “Ithink that it would’ve been honorable for whoever the developer is or whatever’s going on to at least come into the community and express what their desires are.”

• Commissioner May agreed that community engagement was essential: “It’s not how it goes. And we’re blacked out. I mean, we can’t have those discussions… It puts particularly the elected in a very difficult situation to be supportive when I didn’t have the proper information.”

The Vote and Outcome

Despite resident concerns, the commission voted 4-1 to approve the HOME-ARP funding for the affordable housing projects, with only Commissioner May opposing. Commissioner Hofberger made the motion to move forward with funding both AMR and Trinity House projects, which was seconded by Commissioner Stroger.

After the vote, Commissioner May proposed allocating additional CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) funds for infrastructure improvements in the neighborhood, including sidewalks and lighting.

• He insisted that future development must include neighborhood input: “Whatever development happens in the neighborhood, in my opinion, the neighborhood has to be well for my support; the neighborhood would have to be a part of the decision-making process.”

Photo: Licensed under the Unsplash+ License