To: Mayor Mark Stodola and Little Rock City Board of Directors
Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola: Do not release taxpayer funds to the Little Rock Technology Park ...
Do not release taxpayer funds to the Little Rock Technology Park Authority.
People have invested in their homes and their neighborhood. They should not be uprooted. It is immoral to tax people in order to displace them. It is immoral to uproot communities to benefit private companies. It is just plain wrong to destroy neighborhoods where people have been working hard to build a future. Not one dime of taxpayer money should go toward the Little Rock Technology Park until the Technology Park Authority agrees to change its plans and build it in a non-residential area.
Why is this important?
Residents in three central Little Rock neighborhoods are living under the threat that they could lose their homes.
Ruth Carter lived in her home since 1954 where she raised three children and several grandchildren. Over the last few months she lived with the uncertainty that at age 93 she might have to give up her home because the Little Rock Technology Park Authority would take it through eminent domain. But she acted courageously just a few days ago when she went on statewide television with some of her neighbors to tell Mayor Mark Stodola and the Little Rock Technology Park Authority that she did not want to move and that her home was not for sale.
Mrs. Carter passed away this week in her home of almost six decades.
And just as she died in her own home this week so others are now fighting for the right to live in their homes.
People like Rohn Muse, Donna Massey, Daniel Hopwood, and Bobbie Phillips have been leaders in their Central Little Rock communities for years. They have invested in their homes and worked to make their community a better place.
Now they are facing the real possibility that their investment may be taken away from them. Not only are they living under the threat of displacement, they are paying for the demolition of their own community through a new city sales tax. Part of the new tax will be given to the Little Rock Technology Park Authority to tear down homes and destroy a community.
It's wrong to tax people only to displace them. It's wrong to uproot a community for the benefit of private business.
And that's why we are asking you to join with people like the late Ruth Carter to fight for these central Little Rock neighborhoods. Sign our petition and stand with Rohn, Bobbie, Donna, and Daniel to tell the Mayor and the Little Rock Board of Directors:
Not one dime of taxpayer money should go toward the Little Rock Technology Park until the Technology Park Authority agrees to change its plans and build its facility in a non-residential area. We love our piece of the American Dream. And we shall not be moved!