Credit Where Credit's Due

So, I said I was going to let the whole Jerry Droz thing rest, and I promise this will be the last time I write about him. After that it's all old-house, all the time.

Anyway, after I posted the last blog entry I went to run errands which took me by the Post Office to check my PO Box. There were 2 letters to me from Jerry Droz. At first I thought I was going to be sued, but that wasn't it.

The first letter contained some copies of legal documents of a lawsuit Jerry took out against a "crack house", for lack of a better term. In a letter, Jerry states that after trying to work with the city and police department he took matters in to his own hands and sued the owner of the property for maintaining a public nuisance.

I'm not a lawyer, and I didn't examine everything completely, but it seems that Jerry was successful in getting the property cleaned up. For that I applaud you, Mr. Droz. The city needs more citizens to stand up in this fashion and take action. Again, bravo! I mean that sincerely.

The other letter is an apology once again for the letter Jerry Droz wrote when I put my house up for nomination to the Local Register of Historic places. Mr. Droz apologizes profusely about implying that my house should not be listed. Mr. Droz says that he attempted to go down to City Hall and change the letter. Because it is a part of the public record, he can not. I honestly believe Mr. Droz made the attempt. Once again, I applaud you for the effort.

HOWEVER, (and that's a big "however") while that did bother me a lot that you implied that my house should not be listed that is not what really bothered me about that letter.

I hope you're reading this Jerry, because I want to make this clear to you.

What really bothered me is that now, and for all of eternity, when ever anybody looks up information on my house down at Community Development, there is a 2 page letter by Mr. Jerry Droz attached to the paper work for my house's listing on the Local Register of Historic Places. This 2 page letter has one paragraph about my house and then the rest has nothing to do with me or my house. It is nothing but a condemnation of the city. How nice for future homers to find.

In case you still don't get it, let me spell it out more clearly. I spent months and months of my time doing research on my houses history and the history of The Petch family (the first owners of the house). I spent weeks doing a 10 page write-up about the house. I found it offensive that you would take the opportunity of an event that I had worked on for 2 years or more to go off on a tangent about complaints you have of the city.

There is a time and place for everything and my nomination of my house was not the place for you to do that. Every other Tuesday The City Council holds a public meeting at City Hall and there is a time at the end of the meeting for public comment. That is when you should air your complaints about the city.

My advice to you, Mr. Droz, is don't run for Mayor. I think you can be much more help to the city doing what you do best. Sue negligent landlords for maintaining public nuisances in the city. Obviously you do that very well.

In case you don’t read this, Mr. Droz, I will be mailing you a copy.