NOTE: Eye would like to see more stories like this. We need “feel goods” and nothing feels better than helping those who served us!
A couple of weeks ago Eye on Jacksonville ran a story on a mayoral contender who ran into a skirmish with the city government. This week the same man was helping another Jacksonville resident with a property issue.
Ron Armstrong’s issue arose after a Southside resident had a sign painted on the fence surrounding her private property that supported Armstrong’s candidacy for mayor.
A representative from the Municipal Code Enforcement Office told the homeowner the painting violated a zoning ordinance, and the property owner was given three days to remove the painting or face a fine from the city. Armstrong, the republican candidate, went out and painted over the message on the fence.
This week Armstrong is making headlines again, and once more it is connected to the Code Compliance Division.
While Armstrong was attending a recent code enforcement hearing, he heard the story of Henry Cue, and his wife, north Jacksonville residents who were given 60 days to clean up their property and repair the roof on their house or get hit with a $50 a day fine. Cue, an 81-year-old disabled Vietnam veteran, who is missing an arm and has trouble with mobility, has struggled to maintain the property.
Armstrong said hearing their story was heartbreaking. “They walked out of that hearing looking hopeless,” said Armstrong. “I just could not let this struggling disabled veteran be fined for something like this.”
“The city’s solution is to fine citizens when they can’t meet a deadline, and that is not a solution at all,” said Lisa Dirnerger, who accompanied Armstrong to the Cue residence to survey the property issue. “Once we saw the property, we knew there was no way this cleanup could be done in 60 days without help from several people.”
Armstrong turned to social media for help and the response was impressive. Within a few days a crew of 15 volunteers arrived at the Cue residence carrying chainsaws and pushing mowers. Volunteers noted that Cue’s house and yard were in bad shape. The grass was way overgrown, and a huge tree had collapsed onto the roof at the back of the house. One volunteer said he saw rats running across the yard.
The effort was also aided by local businesses that donated equipment and labor to haul away all the yard waste and heavy debris. By the end of the day, the tree had been removed from the roof and the lawn was cleared.
“I was told by one volunteer, who owns a local business, that a low cost for a project of this kind would have been five to six thousand dollars,” Dirnberger said. “We need to start looking at each other to help fix problems in our neighborhood instead of government funded programs.”
While the Cues did not want to draw attention to themselves, Mrs. Cue told the news media that they were truly grateful for this community effort, and they would never forget this action.
Cleanup volunteers stand with Cue (Cue is the man being held up by a volunteer) prior to the tree being removed from the roof of his house. (Photo taken from Ron Armstrong’s Facebook page)
