Earlier today, the demolition of the building at 112-118 West Main Street began. This action was taken in violation of the city's laws, the court's decisions and was a misinterpretation of the county's recently issued adjudication order.
We have an expectation that the legal decisions made by our courts and the laws adopted by our council will be followed and respected. When our laws are disregarded, our entire community loses. Those that have taken this action should be held accountable.
We should not forget that those who undertook this demolition recently received $24,000 from the city administration to fix up other buildings when this one stayed vacant and deteriorated before our very eyes. When the courts ruled a certain way and an adjudication order was misinterpreted, this is what happened.
Our city leadership worked with an ethically challenged individual from the very beginning -- to the point where they implored council to authorize fighting this battle in the appellate courts with a blank check.
Our entire community is losing today and it is sad.
