Despite what turned into a miniscule agenda, Monday’s city council meeting still managed to host impassioned Public Comments on the topic of 1 Washington Street, owned by Bill King and John Rankine. The property went through a blaze on March 17 last year, and during renovations the owners were issued a Stop Work Order from city building inspector Jacob Coburn.
The issue was originally on the agenda, and aldermen agreed to defer it since Coburn was unable to attend. This did not stop members of the public from weighing in.
Rankine and King both spoke during Public Comments with Rankine explaining that previous Building Inspector Bobby Ray had issued them a building permit to repair the damaged building. New electrical, plumbing, heating and air had been installed when they were “suddenly” stopped by red tape.
Rankine said that he and King are invested in providing affordable housing in the area and would restore the fourplex if given the opportunity.
King claimed that Coburn was not properly hired by the city, pointing to city code that states the building inspector must be confirmed by a vote of council. He said he had spoken with the last HR department where Coburn last worked, and that department said he had been employed for five months and was “not rehireable.”
King and Rankine pointed out they have a report by a structural engineer saying the building was safe to renovate, and King said he believed Coburn is “a power tripping bully” and that the city should find a better candidate for building inspector.
Nine other Public Comments expressed support for Rankine and King’s construction. Resident and founder of Eureka Christian Health Outreach, Suzie Bell, presented a large stack of applications saying those were applications received on Monday for affordable housing, and she was disappointed the city would hinder reconstruction of further affordable housing. She said it was not fair to have the rules for compliance with building code to change in the middle of reconstruction, and that she believed council could come to a solution that was both fair and not “financially devastating.”
Others voiced similar sentiments with many repeating that many workers in town are seeking affordable housing and that town is facing a housing shortage. Resident Pat Matsukis questioned where the city’s “consistency” was on rules and said that former alderman Bill Ott only paid $1,000 for violating HDC reconstruction rules.
Another member of the public told council that on January 4, as she was traveling down Bandy Drive in Holiday Island on her way to clean houses, she was flagged down by a man. She said that her window was broken and unable to roll down, and the man simply opened the passenger door of her vehicle without permission, and got in. She said the man told her he was the new building inspector and asked for a ride up the hill so he could ride his skateboard. She later identified the man as Jacob Coburn.
Following public comments, King gave aldermen a copy of the engineer’s report to which alderman Harry Meyer said that it would have saved council time to have seen it earlier. King responded that if the city had a “legitimate building inspector” he would have turned the report over earlier.
During aldermen comments, Meyer repeated that council should have seen the engineer’s report earlier and said that 1 Washington was a “firetrap.” Rankine walked to the mic, which was hot, and declared that Meyer was lying.
A back and forth between the two followed, with Meyer claiming the building was unsafe, and Rankine declared the building was, and would be, safer than it has ever been. Meyer also claimed the building had a gas heater and that a resident had almost died because of faulty fire alarms.
Mayor Butch Berry tried to gain control of the situation, but things did not calm down until Meyer told Rankine, “We’ll meet outside.”
The comment from Meyer drew a long “ooh” from the more than 30 members of the public, with one shouting, “so professional!” from the back of the Auditorium. The only thing to come of the comment were several rude epithets cast among Rankine, the public, and Meyer in the Aud lobby after the meeting.
The only other item left on the agenda had been to discuss sidewalks on East Mountain, and Berry said he would apprise Meyer of what is going on.
Coburn is expected to attend the next meeting, March 27, along with Police Chief Brian Young and the fire marshal.
I’m sorry but Meyer is out of control. The Mayor should have turned off both mics not just the one Rankine was speaking into. He is their to serve the citizens NOT badger and belittle them.