As reported by Jackson Jambalaya, the Occupy Jackson crowd continued their fight to turn Smith Park into their own degenerate 24/7 two-and-a-half month dirty campground. The anti-money protesters appeared before the City Council at the full council meeting on November 21, to appeal the daylight-to-dusk permit granted by the administration. Incredibly, only former Jackson Mayor Kane Ditto spoke against allowing the protesters to turn the park into a campground. After Mr. Ditto spoke, the Council was treated to a veritable loser parade of occupiers, some of whom claimed that the community actually wanted them there on a 24/7 basis.
The troubling part is that no one appeared to speak on behalf of the residents of downtown Jackson. Not a single representative from JDNA appeared to give the residents' perspective of this grime pile. In fact, JDNA hasn't even taken a position at all on the issue. JDNA has been completely AWOL on this issue.
This is no small matter. We have a bunch of Rankin-Madison-Scott County trash trying to set up a camp, complete with porta-jons, fifty (50) feet from where residents live. Yet, JDNA cannot be bothered to think about it. They are far too busy planning the next feel-good mixer to be bothered with such frivolous matters as quality of life.
How hard would it have been to appear at the meeting and speak for two minutes on behalf of downtown residents? Or if you did not want to appear at the meeting, why not write a letter to the Council in opposition of the occupiers? It's not like it would have required that much effort. We've already done the work for you, just print it off and send it to the Council.
By your silence and failure to act, you tacitly approved of the occupiers' appeal. The Council knows that we have a neighborhood association for downtown residents. When JDNA stands mute, it sends a message to the Coouncil that downtown residents don't care how many Occupy fools occupy the park, or for how long.
There is more to being a neighborhood association than planning cocktail parties. It takes more than putting up little flyers telling people where to go hang out and drink. Besides, we already have a little flyer that does that--the Jackson Free Press.
A neighborhood association takes action to protect and advocate on behalf of the residents. The DJT sees no evidence that the JDNA has any interest whatsoever in protecting and advocating on behalf of the residents of downtown Jackson.
