Peoplestown Residents Facing Eviction Fight Back

 Peoplestown residents, Bertha and Robert Darden, Tanya Washington, Ms. Mattie Jackson and her family and Dwayne Adgar, have been fighting to stay in their homes for more than 8 years.  Two of the families have received eviction notices from the City’s attorneys, calling for their immediate displacement.  

Former City of Atlanta Mayor, Kasim Reed, initiated the action to take their homes by eminent domain 5 years ago on Oct. 31, 2016.  Their names were removed from the deeds to their houses and during the litigation evidence surfaced that the City never had the engineering data to support the taking of the entire block of 27 homes in Peoplestown.  The City engineer, Kimberly Scott (formerly Palmer) testified in court regarding the City’s unlawful takings and she was fired by the City for telling the truth. 

Mrs. Bertha Darden confronted Kasim Reed at a mayoral forum on Friday Oct. 24 about the City’s unlawful actions under his leadership.  In response to her accusations of the predatory use of eminent domain, Kasim said he made the best decision based on the information he had at the time and that he was concerned about flooding “killing people.”  Both of his statements are untrue.  

When Kasim initiated the taking of homes in Peoplestown and before the first of 20+ homes were taken and families displaced, engineer Kimberly Scott had provided written documentation that the City only had engineering data to justify taking 2-4 homes, not 27 homes.  Furthermore, the flooding in Peoplestown in 2012 did cause property damage to the 9 residents who sued the City, but it was not life threatening.  If flooding on the block was life threatening  Kasim would not have allowed Ms. Mattie Jackson to stay in the middle of the block.  Kasim Reed’s response to Mrs. Darden highlights the same untruthfulness and fraud that undergirds the City’s efforts to use eminent domain to displace the Peoplestown residents.  

Today, on the eve of the Mayoral election Peoplestown residents held rally and press conference to discuss the actions of the current and past administrations and share their perspectives on who should be elected the City’s 61st Mayor to handle the multiple and intersecting crises facing the City: gentrification of legacy communities, displacement of legacy residents, unlawful use of eminent domain, white collar crime/corruption, violent crime, an exploding population of unsheltered people, and  a dearth of affordable housing for people earning minimum wage.  This rally offers the people of Atlanta the chance to speak truth to power and make their expectations and priorities known to the next Mayor of the City of Atlanta.

Residents have created a GoFundMe page to help pay the hundreds of thousands of dollars we owe to our lawyers and engineering experts.  Please share their link —GoFundMe.com/Peoplestownfight

Residents have also created an on-line petition asking Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms to suspend efforts to evict them from their homes and to allow the next Mayor to address the situation.  Please share their link -- ATL Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms Please Stop the Evictions of Peoplestown Residents | Housing Justice League (controlshift.app)

Mayor Bottom's Troubling Behavior Pattern

In response to flooding resulting from over development and neglect, former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed decided that 27 homes in Peoplestown, a historically black neighborhood of in Atlanta needed to be demolished to make room for a Japanese themed park and pond.  As a result of persistent protests, rallies and resistance by community members, he decided that one resident, 93-year-old Ms. Mattie Jackson, could stay.  The city of Atlanta filed eminent domain lawsuits against the remaining residents who refused to leave in October 2016.  Resident's names were removed from their deeds, and though they continue to pay their mortgages for the past three years, they do not own their homes and can be evicted at any time. Of the 27 homes and families that originally occupied the block in the heart of Peoplestown, only four homes and four families remain. 

In the midst of a three year court battle, emails surfaced that were written by a former City of Atlanta engineer, who was the project manager for the proposed park and pond, stating that the City didn’t have the necessary engineering to support the taking and demolition of an entire block of homes.  Those emails were written in 2013, BEFORE the first home was demolished.  The engineer, Kimberly Scott, testified in court, under oath, that the actions of the City were neither necessary nor justified and she testified before City Council and asked them to “correct [the] wrong.”

 (​See the emails )    

After years of protest, online petitions, and media coverage current Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms agreed to meet with one of the families, Mr. Robert and Bertha Darden, to discuss their desire that the lawsuits be withdrawn and they be allowed to stay in the home they have lived in and raised their children and grandchildren in for over 30 years.  During that April 30 2019 meeting the Dardens shared with Mayor Bottoms the evidence that clearly showed that the City should have never sued them in the first place for their homes and provided her with alternative plans for the block developed by the engineering firm they hired to assist them in the litigation.  

The Dardens left the meeting, which a press release from the Mayor’s office described as “productive”, hopeful that a resolution was near.  Nine months passed and the Dardens heard nothing from the Mayor and the litigation continues.  In December 2019 the Dardens and Tanya Washington, with the support of the Housing Justice League, planned a rally on the steps of city hall and a sit-in in Mayor Bottoms’ office.  After 11 hours, senior officials, Rashad Taylor and Rev Eric Thomas reached out on behalf of the Mayor and expressed a desire and intention to bring the matter to an end before the Christmas holidays.  Residents left city hall and went home to their families with the expectation that the matter would be resolved before Christmas and certain that they would not carry the 7-year fight into the New Year. There was a sense of relief at the thought of lifting this burden. 

The effected residents asked if Deborah Scott with Georgia Stand-up and myself could negotiate on their behalf. We decided to go into negotiations with Mayor Bottom's administration with the assumption of trust despite a track record of poor communications, broken promises, and unanswered calls/emails. We met the day immediately following the sit-in. Reverend Eric Thomas and Rashad Taylor represented the Mayor's office. The meeting was friendly and lasted about an hour. We spent our time laying out terms that would end the campaign and present a win-win solution for the city and the remaining residents.

 It was clearly communicated that the family's terms were reasonable and the Mayor Bottoms was highly motivated to do right by the families. We left the meeting Tuesday December 17th with an agreement that a written road map to resolution would be completed by Friday December 20th.

Over the course of the week we continued to negotiate through email and text message. It started to become clear that the Mayor's team was moving very slowly. We began to hear something that many community organizations have been hearing in regards to promises from this administration, "We're working on it."

Highlighted txt is Tim Franzen

I began to fear the worst, that we had fallen into a trap. Certainly the Mayor wouldn't promise a positive solution to this problem just to get us to pause the campaign through the holidays? Of course this Mayor wouldn't intentionally enter into bad faith negotiations? 

I began to ask if there was anything the families were asking for that the Mayor took issue with. Was the slow down in progress due to ifs or hows? It was made clear that the Mayor had no real issues with any of the families requests and they simply needed more time to work out details.

So we compromised and asked Rashad Taylor and Rev Thomas what deadline would work best and Rev Thomas let us know that Dec 31st would work, so we agreed on a second deadline even though doubts were beginning to arise. 

Highlighted txt is Tim Franzen

 On January 2nd Rev Thomas said they need more time after which we never heard from either Rashad or Rev Thomas, the Mayor and her team has totally ghosted the families since. I can't tell you how difficult it was to watch the joy and hope build as families fighting for their homes began to believe that the Mayor really wanted to work out a solution that all parties could live with only to have the rug pulled out from under them yet again. 

As one of the negotiators entrusted  by the families I felt embarrassed to admit that I believed Mayor Bottom's team was acting in good faith, I encouraged the families and the organizations advocating for them to put the campaign on pause only to have them ignore community after the holidays passed. In my mind it begs the question, is there any good faith in Mayor Bottom's administration?

In the aftermath of this disappointing chapter of this 7 year fight Tanya Washington expressed her pain and confusion, "I simply can't understand how a black, female Mayor who pledged to support the community who voted her into office can treat people this way.  She has seen the evidence that this was never necessary and she refuses to right the wrong the City committed.  My family and I are so tired of this fight.  If Mayor Reed had the power to decide Ms. Mattie could stay in her home why can't you use your power to allow us to stay in ours?"      Mrs. Darden, a senior who has lived in home in Peoplestown for 30+ years is heartbroken. "How long does it take to do the right thing?"  she asked Mayor Bottoms at a recent Invest Atlanta meeting. "All of this could have been avoided.  Since April of 2019, you gave me and my family hope and then in December 2019 we still had hope, and now we have no hope.  You have shown us that we cannot put our trust in what you say.  The faith we had in you is gone because you do not keep your word and because you will not do the right thing by us."

The truth is we don't know where things stand with the Mayor and the Peoplestown eminent domain fight because the community has been shunned by her office yet again. Maybe she's to busy stumping for Joe Biden, maybe her schedule is to jammed hanging with celebrities instead of following through with commitments she's made to community. At this point we have learned we can't hold our breath waiting on this Mayor to do the right thing.

Outside Ebeneezer during King Holiday Events

So we will continue to show up wherever Mayor Bottoms is so we can tell the truth, so we can remind her of the commitments she's made to communities, and we can hold her accountable to them.  As former Senator Vincent said said, " Using eminent domain as a device to displace black people from their homes is shameful.  That's why I joined the Dardens and Tanya Washington on the King Holiday outside of Ebeneezer Baptist Church to protest Mayor Bottoms' ruthless gentrification policies; educate the public and encourage others to join our resistance."

Tim Franzen

Atlanta Economic Justice Program Director

American Friends Service Committee

Sleeping on the Steps Of Atlanta City Hall

Peoplestown Residents and allies spent all night on the steps of Atlanta city hall to bring attention to their fight to avoid losing their homes to development project

"When the Mayor decided Ms. Mattie's home can stay, he acknowledged  that flooding in Peoplestown can be addressed without demolishing an entire block in Peoplestown", stated homeowner Tanya Washington, whose home is one of the homes slated to be demolished.

The remaining residents whose homes bookend the block are requesting that the Mayor direct the Department of Watershed to amend the plan so they can also stay in their homes.

Last night, the residents and their supporters  held a rally and camped out all night on the steps of City Hall to emphasize the point that if Ms. Mattie stays they stay.  American Friends Service Committee was excited to be the in support along with leaders from Occupy Our Homes Atlanta. Most who committed to stay though the night had never done anything like it before and what was initial nervousness about the bold tactic quickly turned into the joy that often comes with participating in collective action driven by a righteous goal; in this case, saving the homes of residents that helped build the community they love.

After holding a 10 am press conference this morning they presented a letter to the Mayor, supported by a petition with 5394 signatures, respectfully requesting that he meet with them to address their right to also stay in their homes.

Ms Mattie joined them in solidarity and told her City Council Representative, Carla Smith, that she wants her neighbors to be treated as fairly as she's been treated.

The Mayor's office refused to even schedule a meeting with the residents, who had camped out all night in anticipation of getting some word from the mayors office about their homes.  The residents and their supporters plan  to return to the Mayor to demand the meeting which he promised.

"We've been here going on 30 years, we've raised our children and our grandchildren here. This is our home and we have no intention of leaving", state Bertha Darden who lives in one of the homes in question with her husband Robert Darden.

We are of course disappointed with Mayor Reed's continued dismissive stance towards these Peoplestown residents but we remain hopeful that he will do right by them as he did right by Mattie. After last night a few things are clear. This fight will not go away, it will continue to escalate as residents make it clear they will not leave their homes. It also seems clear that these residents have already won and they know it, their supporters know it, it's just going to take city council and Mayor Reed some time and possibly more creative direct action to figure it out.