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4 CITY OF SOUTH BEND OFFICE OF THE CLERK
<br /> they use the law against us, so we'll use the law against them. And that's who we target, those
<br /> landlords that we go after in that manner. So, that's where I'll end reading, but there was more of
<br /> the conversation. I read everything, so I wasn't taking it out of context,but that is available in case
<br /> anyone wants to see it and/or talk about it.
<br /> She went on, I didn't realize it while we were having the conversation,but as I went back through
<br /> my notes, I was really concerned by that. I understand the intention,because if we have a problem
<br /> property, we have to push those people out. But if we are subjectively using the law to target
<br /> certain people, who gets to make that decision? And it becomes, to me,much too subjective for a
<br /> City agency. So, who's next? Right now it is someone who is running drugs and prostitution, and
<br /> I think most people would agree you don't want that in your community. But who gets to decide
<br /> what the problem properties are? Could it be there's too many undocumented people? Whatever it
<br /> is, to me, it felt like there needs to be a more empirical way to make those decisions as to who is
<br /> getting fined. We need to apply the law evenly and equitably across all situations. We have in the
<br /> audience Ms. Tyria Bailey. She is the owner of The KickBack, the restaurant he mentioned as one
<br /> (1) of the people on their hitlist that they are going after. She is going to give a testimony about
<br /> what her experience was during that time.
<br /> Tyria Bailey, 643 LaPorte Avenue, I opened up my business back in 2014. I started having
<br /> problems with Code Enforcement with fines for grass, bushes, and some trash that they got from
<br /> a residence around the block or down the street. I had several problems with Code Enforcement
<br /> over and over again. I paid several fines, not because I felt like I was wrong,but because I felt like
<br /> it was a bill that needed to be paid. That's all I've got.
<br /> Committee Chair Williams-Preston asked if she could add to the story, and Ms. Bailey gave her
<br /> permission.
<br /> Committee Chair Williams-Preston stated, She purchased a property, and as they were fixing it up
<br /> and getting ready to create their business, she was told she was not allowed to have a business
<br /> license. So one (1) of the things she talked about, and again, there are a lot of holes in this story,
<br /> just because of not understanding the process. It's like all of this legal stuff and the processes from
<br /> the City, if we don't understand it, we're sunk. We don't know how to fight that or stand up for
<br /> ourselves and say yes or no. All she knows is that she was told she could not have a business
<br /> license,because of the"Y"Not Shack. I'm almost fifty(50)years old and my dad used to go there,
<br /> so it was there a long time ago. She was told that it caused a lot of problems and the City really
<br /> doesn't want a restaurant or bar working out of that location, so she was told she could not have a
<br /> business license. She did what she could to try to fight that. So then they said let's have a meeting
<br /> about it. She went down there, but what she didn't know was that it was some kind of official,
<br /> formal legal meeting, and she wasn't prepared for that. They actually had someone who said well,
<br /> I'm not a part of either party, but I'm going to make a decision in this case. She was telling me
<br /> that the City had all of these people lined up, even uniformed police officers, coming in talking
<br /> about the problem property. She was scared. She wondered why the police officers were there, and
<br /> it was very intimidating. She plead her case, got a notice later that said she won, and she was
<br /> allowed to have a business license.
<br /> She went on, The problems started right away. Code Enforcement started with the fines.
<br /> Specifically, there was one (1) police officer that used to come into her business every single day
<br /> asking where so and so was. Some people feel that having a uniformed police officer in their
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