 |
| Lori Davis holding one of the flags with commissioner Matt Aitken |
Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012
Augusta, GA
As you are probably well aware, the Harrisburg neighborhood has been struggling with crime and code enforcement problems for years. However, a tenacious group of neighborhood activists, mostly lead by CityStink columnist Lori Davis and Butch Palmer, have been trying to fight back. Just this past fall, the neighborhood board of directors launched a re-branding campaign that consisted of creating a new neighborhood logo and a website.
Part of this effort was the purchase of flags with the new logo that residents could purchase to help support the neighborhood association. The flags didn't come cheap though. Each one costs $54 a piece. They were unveiled at the recent Harrisburg Christmas Party hosted by Butch Palmer, who owns Salon 606 on Crawford Ave. But in just this last week, two of the leading neighborhood activists, Butch Palmer and Lori Davis have had their flags stolen, and they think it is more than just a random act of theft. Lori Davis points to a warning she received via instant messaging on Facebook, just after a story ran on City Stink about her open records request involving the TEE Center Parking Deck. The profile of the individual sending the warning (Inkspring) appeared to be fake according to Davis. This is the exact text of the warning she received on January 12, 2012:
I saw your article in The City Stink yesterday. Ya'll have found just the tip of the iceberg but you are on the right track and that is making a lot of important people very nervous. Ya'll are heading into some shark invested waters and don't underestimate their abilities and their reach to make things very uncomfortable. My suggest is to make sure your group has a good lawyer to advise you because this could get ugly. And they may not do anything directly but there's a lot of seedy characters in Harrisburg they have the associations to make the situation there even worse for all of you trying to improve it.
As mentioned, this warning (or threat, however you want to interpret it) came exactly one day after Lori's City Stink story ran on the Tee Center. The mysterious Facebook messenger is making reference to Lori's 1/11/12 City Stink article.
On 1/12/12 Butch Palmer had his Harrisburg flag stolen. Yesterday, the one hanging in front of Lori and Roger Davis' home was stolen. Lori Davis says that compared to other crimes committed regularly in her neighborhood, this is small potatoes, but she contends that this reinforces the warning from last week and suspicions that she and others have had for quite some time; that some very important people and well-connected people are deliberately trying to make life for them in Harrisburg as uncomfortable as possible in an effort to drive them out.
Davis sees the situation she is dealing with in Harrisburg as being very similar to what Joe and Michelle Holt were dealing with regarding their properties in downtown. We told you about their ordeal yesterday in : One Couple's Battle With Augusta Code Enforcement.
Lori and Roger Davis say that they are fed up, but are willing to stay and fight. Lori says she has some information that will expose the people she believes are behind this and she says it may be time to start naming names.***
2 comments:
Oh make no mistake...we are far from giving up! Joe and I spent far too many hours, sweat and money to just let this slide! I am sure the city will wish we did just pack up and go back home and never hear from us again! I'm willing to fight for my right as a tax payer and property owner along with everyone in Harrisburg!
Have y'all contacted an attorney about writing a "demand letter?"
That's what we had to do to get action from the A-RC's water and sewer people.
Post a Comment