[0:53] But

[2:01] Call the meeting to order

[2:05] at 10:01 a.m.

[2:17] or

[2:20] just for a second because they be me.

[2:25] to right.

[2:29] was and

[2:34] All right, the meeting was called to order at 10:01 a.m. This is

[2:37] the Human Relations Commission meeting of the City

[2:39] of Atlanta, today's date is Wednesday

[2:42] March 4th, 2026.

[2:45] All right, next we're gonna move forward with a roll call

[2:48] If we could start with Commissioner Hunt Blackwell, just state

[2:50] your name. Sarah

[2:54] Hunt Blackwell present Tony Burke's present.

[2:57] Kevin Marshall present. Personnel present

[3:02] Gabriel Clayborne Crescent. All right, we'll next move to

[3:05] the statutory purpose of the commission. That'll be done by

[3:08] our vice chair. The city of Atlanta

[3:12] council created the Human Relations Commission as a vehicle

[3:15] for addressing illegal discrimination in

[3:17] public accommodations, private employment and housing within

[3:20] the city, the prohibited forms of

[3:23] discrimination involve race, color, creed, religion, sex

[3:26] marital status, parental status, familial status

[3:29] sexual orientation, national origin, gender identity

[3:33] gender expression, age, disability, and criminal history

[3:36] Alright, perfect. Next we'll move to the approval of

[3:39] the March meeting agenda, which everyone should have in front

[3:42] of them. Do we have a motion to approve

[3:46] Motion to approve. Second, All those

[3:49] in favor? Aye. Are those opposed

[3:52] ? Any abstentions We've approved

[3:55] the March meeting agenda. Now it's time

[3:57] for the review and acceptance of February's minutes

[4:00] I sent those out to the commissioners via email

[4:04] Um, do we have a motion to approve those

[4:07] minutes or any amendments that need to be made. Propose amendments.

[4:11] Um, I'm proposing an amendment. I made some

[4:13] um some updates last night, uh, that I can recirculate. Perfect. OK

[4:16] All right. Are you gonna email those to us, sir

[4:20] ? Alright, perfect.

[4:35] And while we're getting those

[4:38] documents circulated. Is there anyone here for public comment?

[4:41] by chance?

[4:45] All right? Yes

[4:47] OK. Do we want to just move forward with public comment

[4:50] while we're waiting. All right, let's go ahead and move forward with public comment. Can I have

[4:53] the first individual just come to the podium, please, and state your

[4:56] first and last name. And please note, Chairman

[4:59] the time that they have for public comment. Yes, thank you so much. You have 2 minutes

[5:02] for public comment, OK? And that starts when you begin speaking, all right?

[5:06] All right. You're free to go. My name is

[5:09] Fern Scott. I am an owner at

[5:12] the Landmark Condominium at 215

[5:14] Piedmont Avenue. In addition to myself

[5:17] being here, Miss, uh, Zita Sarter

[5:20] is here, um, and another young lady, Crystal

[5:23] who will speak um on her own, um in just a

[5:26] few minutes. The reason I am here is because

[5:29] I want to make the committee aware of what

[5:32] is going on in terms of

[5:35] safety concerns for anybody at the

[5:37] landmark condominium, but my greatest fear

[5:41] as a senior is some of the things that are transpiring

[5:43] right now in our facility. I

[5:46] have bought very graphic pictures of

[5:49] what is going on at the landmark I think it

[5:52] would be important to share those. Can they be

[5:54] circulated, or should I hold them up? I actually have a quick question

[5:57] for you, and we could pause the time if we can, Amaria. So we are hearing

[6:00] uh, there is a hearing scheduled today for Landmark. There

[6:03] was notice letter sent out to the individuals. You

[6:06] may have been one of those individuals. Did you receive a notice letter for

[6:09] the hearing. I did indeed. So actually, uh, because

[6:11] the hearing is scheduled for today, we could see those documents

[6:15] but I ask that you hold them until the hearing

[6:17] starts momentarily. I'll be more than happy to hold him if

[6:20] that's the proper protocol. Yes, ma'am. OK

[6:23] And then everybody else is more than welcome if you'd

[6:25] like to have a public comment, you can, but if it's related to the case

[6:28] I'll just ask you to hold it until we start the case here momentarily.

[6:31] Alright? That would be great. OK Anybody else that wants to speak

[6:35] for public comment now? OK

[6:38] Hearing none

[6:42] we do, we didn't receive an email

[6:44] from Commissioner Hunt Blackwell regarding the minutes if we could just take a

[6:47] moment to review those and see if we

[6:49] have any proposed amendments

[6:53] to those.

[7:07] Can I, can I ask Madam Secretary to just

[7:11] point out specifically what it was. I read the minutes before and I was OK with them. I

[7:14] just want to know exactly what, uh, has been adjusted, if

[7:16] you don't mind doing that, that would be helpful, I think.

[7:20] Absolutely. Um, I actually just made some um

[7:24] formatting changes, um, moved some

[7:27] um bullet points back. um, that represented

[7:30] the Herod case and the Edgerson Pattaway case

[7:34] I also um

[7:38] added a note under section K for

[7:41] new cases, um, that I was adding the new applications

[7:45] um, and new cases to the spreadsheet. Those are the

[7:48] only changes. The only thing

[7:50] that I see, uh, commissioner, as I'm going through it, is just

[7:53] under the vice chair's updates. D&E

[7:56] um, it looks like those sentences just

[7:59] aren't uh complete on this documentary. Yeah.

[8:22] That was my observations.

[8:30] I'm just continuing to take a look

[8:33] at the

[8:36] remaining portions of the document.

[8:44] I don't see anything else with the exception of

[8:47] what I've pointed out, does any other commissioner see anything

[8:50] that needs to be amended.

[8:54] And if you need more time, just let me know.

[9:06] Sir, let me ask you this for D&E do you know what that would

[9:09] have said or what the amendment would

[9:11] be. I amended, um, updates to the

[9:15] document should occur throughout March and April. OK

[9:18] and then I

[9:20] do not

[9:24] I do not know what what the end of D would have I

[9:27] would have been um D would've

[9:29] been uh, there's a the

[9:32] statute as it's currently written, doesn't

[9:35] say who, uh, is supposed to com uh appoint

[9:38] which commissioner. So I think they, they legal had to work out

[9:40] or we were supposed to get with legal and figure out who

[9:43] gets the additional appointment for

[9:46] the commissioners who did the who

[9:49] made it. That's that's what. I thought that's what it was, but I

[9:51] wasn't for sure. OK, thank you. Alright

[9:54] do we have a motion to approve with

[9:57] those amendments. I move that we approve the

[10:00] uh February minutes, uh, as amended.

[10:03] Second all those in favor

[10:06] ? All those opposed? Any abstentions? Alright

[10:09] the February minutes are approved. Up next on

[10:12] the agenda is the hearing for Nadir Penjwani et

[10:16] al versus Landmark Condominium

[10:19] Moners Association Board. I'm gonna do a roll call as it relates

[10:22] to the complainants. If you're here, uh, when I say your name

[10:25] please just stand up and just say present so that we have it

[10:28] for the record. Um, when

[10:31] you come to the mic to say it. We are just as

[10:34] an announcement for folks here, we are recording today's hearing

[10:37] We just always like to let you know that that is occurring.

[10:40] All right, Nadir Panjwani

[10:45] Alright, and just for the record the

[10:48] commission did receive

[10:50] last night, basically yesterday evening, we

[10:54] received an email from Nair Panjwani asking

[10:56] the commission to dismiss her complaint

[10:59] without prejudice, uh, which basically means she doesn't want

[11:02] to move forward with her hearing

[11:05] today as a body, we do have the ability, well, we do need

[11:08] to vote so that there's finality or closure as it

[11:11] relates to that. Is there a motion

[11:14] uh, to dismiss her case without prejudice, without prejudice just means that

[11:17] she can bring the case at a later time. Oh.

[11:21] Yes ma'am I'd

[11:23] like to. Sure.

[11:26] But no. OK

[11:30] well, so we're not in public comments, so you can't say anything right now

[11:33] I'm part of Are

[11:35] you Panjwani? I am not Nadir Penjwani, but Nadir Panjwani is

[11:39] not the the lead over this

[11:42] case. So hold on for one second. So that being said,

[11:45] there's still other cases that can move forward, but she just asked that

[11:48] hers be dismissed. So we have to vote on that as a

[11:51] commission. Well we're part of that we're, we're under

[11:54] the umbrella. We're with the the landmark, so that the purposes

[11:57] of me saying that is So at

[12:00] this point in time, because we're not in public comment

[12:02] we can't hear public comment, but the remainder of the cases

[12:06] will be able to move forward. Uh we would just be closing

[12:09] her case. OK, it's a man, by the way, but

[12:12] um, Nadia Panjuwai is a man. He's a man. OK

[12:15] you're welcome. It's fine. Um, so are you saying

[12:18] that high? Are you saying that we

[12:20] can still give our Yes, thank you

[12:23] thank you, thank you. You're right, so we'll move

[12:26] forward with the motion to dismiss Nadir Panjawani's

[12:29] case without prejudice. Is there a motion I

[12:33] move to dismiss that the case without prejudice

[12:35] Is there a second? All those in

[12:38] favor? All those opposed? Any

[12:41] abstentions? Alright, that case has been dismissed without

[12:44] prejudice. Crystal Augustine, is that individual here today?

[12:49] All right, thank you Hey ma'am, would you like

[12:51] to move forward with your hearing today?

[12:57] Yes. Yes, OK, thank you.

[13:00] Bern Scott

[13:06] Present. Thank you so much. Would you like to move forward with your hearing

[13:09] today? All right. Thank you. And the reason why we're having everybody come up to

[13:12] the microphone is that this proceeding is being recorded, so

[13:15] we want to make sure that we get your statements on the

[13:18] record. Jeffrey Cave

[13:21] absent.

[13:25] Was it Nicky Bugs

[13:34] All right, would you like to move forward with your hearing today? I would

[13:42] And Zeta Stanley Sartor.

[13:48] Do we have a, uh, Candice, do we have a mic

[13:52] that's movable by chance? OK, just

[13:56] here. All right, would you like to move forward with your

[13:59] hearing today? I am not going to be able to

[14:03] speak because of fear of retribution. Yes

[14:07] ma'am. So are you, are you asking that we move forward with it? Are you asking that

[14:10] the matter be dismissed or how would you like for us to

[14:14] proceed? OK,. Is there a motion

[14:17] to dismiss the case of Zetta Stanley Satter?

[14:20] Moved to dismiss the case of

[14:22] Zettaani Tarter. All right, do we have a second? Second

[14:25] All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed

[14:28] ? Any abstentions? Do we have a representative

[14:30] from Landmark Condominium Homeowners Association Board present.

[14:35] All right, Seno representative. It

[14:39] looks like we're moving forward with the hearing for

[14:44] Crystal Augustin

[14:46] Bern Scott and Nicky Bugs.

[14:51] OK

[14:55] at this point in time, we will have

[14:58] opening statements. I ask you, it's up to

[15:01] you all since they're technically different cases. I

[15:04] I would like if there could be one individual potentially to make

[15:06] an opening statement on behalf of the group. I think that would be the

[15:10] most productive Is there

[15:12] a representative that could potentially speak on behalf of the group

[15:15] for opening statements. Chair, point of privilege, let's announce

[15:18] the timing um before we

[15:20] ask folks to come up so that they can just organize

[15:23] themselves appropriately. Thank you.

[15:26] Let's see

[15:29] All right, so for opening statements,

[15:33] traditionally the complaint gets 5 minutes.

[15:37] So for those if you wanna break them up, you can if you want to

[15:40] have a representative just speak on behalf of the group for those 5 minutes. You

[15:43] could do that as well. They can also

[15:46] have an individual opening statement for

[15:49] each case if you desire. That is also part of the structure. And

[15:52] then for each witness, I would go ahead and tell them

[15:55] And then for each witness that's called, uh, you

[15:58] have 10 minutes in all to present, uh, those witnesses.

[16:04] We are also happy to answer any questions, just to make sure the process

[16:07] feels clear.

[16:14] Do y'all wanna take a second to kind of huddle and decide how

[16:18] to move forward. OK.

[16:47] she's got. OK.

[16:50] Oh OK. Thank you

[17:12] me

[17:21] is about

[17:23] I see has.

[17:26] and make the

[17:30] would be like to establish something

[17:34] All right, so it's

[17:37] 10:17. We'll give until 10:19, a couple

[17:39] more minutes just to decide how you all want to present the

[17:42] opening. Stand by. All right.

[17:57] OK

[18:15] graphic It's

[18:19] like OK. this

[18:22] is

[18:31] Stimulant

[18:42] I see chances in.

[18:45] Yes it's fine and you'll have that future.

[18:49] Yeah If you don't want you Yeah

[19:01] problem

[19:05] Oh my.

[19:09] All right, it's 10:19. Do we have a

[19:12] consensus for how you want to do the opening statement?

[19:23] Your timekeeper is sitting to your right, and

[19:26] she will have a buzzer that will let you know when

[19:29] time has has expired.

[19:34] right, right, good morning. Uh, thank you very much

[19:37] for having us. This has been an ongoing battle for the

[19:40] last 5 years, speaking in front of the city

[19:43] the Senate, and what have you. Also speaking in front of

[19:46] the media and trying to get this handled before it

[19:50] had gotten this far. At this point, we

[19:52] have 200 units in the building, and

[19:55] from there there may be about 10 of us left in the building.

[19:59] from being pushed out um via investor.

[20:03] property investors. So basically what we're highlighting

[20:06] today is uh the disparities and unsafe conditions and

[20:09] retaliatory actions that residents are facing in

[20:12] the landmark condominium at this point. We

[20:14] realize that World Cup is coming in and some, you know, really

[20:17] big events and the option at this point

[20:20] is that they want the building

[20:23] and the main thing is just, you know, so that they can. get the

[20:25] rest of the, the homeowners out, if you

[20:28] will, and, and then take over the building. So that's where we are and this has been

[20:31] an ongoing battle for the last 5 years

[20:33] We had a resident that died during

[20:37] this fight. We had a husband that died during

[20:39] this fight. We had a parent that died

[20:42] during this fight.

[20:46] So we asked that, um, and we humbly

[20:48] respect your time. We want to do

[20:51] our best to explain without getting into

[20:53] the minutiae because there's a great deal of it to share, but

[20:57] there's a great deal of information are

[21:00] proposed to what is transpired, and it's strictly

[21:02] pertains to the safety and the welfare

[21:05] and the well-being of the homeowners of the

[21:08] landmark condominium and the few of us that are left and are

[21:11] being targeted. All right, is that your opening statement? That is

[21:13] my opening statement. I clarity. I want

[21:16] to make sure that this is on the record and the commissioners hear this

[21:19] as well, with the individuals that are moving forward with the

[21:22] hearing today, uh, Crystal Fern as well

[21:25] as Nicky, can you state the

[21:27] protected classes, uh, that you believe that you're a part of, that you

[21:30] believe you were discriminated against for those classes so

[21:33] that we know going in what to be on the

[21:35] lookout for. I am a homeowner and then the

[21:38] protective classes are the homeowner residents a

[21:41] long-term homeowner residents and the seniors in the building. So we have people

[21:43] that lived in a building for well over 15 years.

[21:47] and this, this was their forever home. OK, is that

[21:50] for the other complaints as well That

[21:53] is Thank you so much. At this point in time

[21:56] we'll now hear the uh presentation of the case

[21:59] I'm sorry, could you say that again, please? Yeah, at this point

[22:02] in time we're now hear the presentation of

[22:04] the case. You get 30 minutes for the presentation of

[22:07] the case. You're free to speak, you're free to call witnesses

[22:10] during that time period, but you have 30

[22:13] minutes collectively to present whatever case you'd like to in front of

[22:15] the commission. Roger that. Thank you very much.

[22:18] I'll give you about 5 minutes just to prepare, OK?

[22:21] Thank you So it's 10:22

[22:23] 23, 24 to 56, 27. Maria

[22:27] can you let me know when it's 10:27

[22:29] please.

[22:34] to of butter

[22:37] Yeah, we, the first.

[22:39] I think. Len

[22:43] more Caramels Atlanta.

[22:45] that I that I miss what you're trying to do.

[22:52] needs to be stupid but

[22:54] I feel like the communism. I

[22:59] I. this and that.

[23:03] but I, I actually feel

[23:10] me.

[23:14] Is this like down tackle this

[23:17] kind of between midtown and downtown. I

[23:21] I think yeah, yeah, so.

[23:24] you.

[23:28] once was

[23:30] since we have rules of time down the conci er ge

[23:33] and move the opportunity the way that commentate

[23:38] insecurity and in the commodity

[23:41] because um all those bars looking at it and the water

[23:44] and you didn't have this

[23:48] I think that's I need that problem so we

[23:51] understand you for.

[23:55] you you just.

[23:57] If you want, and it's up to you guys. I

[24:00] I just here, but it's where you start, but

[24:03] I don't want that It is.

[24:06] great I don't

[24:09] I. I want to go

[24:11] but and

[24:15] that it so.

[24:18] yeah, so yeah and this, but it's

[24:22] and we all take up, up there with that, but we have definitely

[24:25] because it's, that's how when I broke the case

[24:28] I was in a bit too that that we went to

[24:31] visit with her many times.

[24:34] We have to take that name that's who who need to be done and we just said

[24:36] which just

[24:40] and extreme. did not

[24:45] do that um just now we're all

[24:47] part of the discrimination to see that this can't

[24:52] this signs reporting, it just makes my business

[24:55] right, um. yes,

[24:58] to children. That's OK. Right, 20

[25:03] 25 So you just say you just

[25:07] lot of.

[25:10] She knows the state system.

[25:14] I bit this of that

[25:19] I mean, yes. No problem.

[25:25] I to sleep sometimes, you know this

[25:28] sometimes just to

[25:34] d in

[25:41] Of course. um

[25:45] No, I, I I

[25:50] she's I see just I.

[25:58] No, but I

[26:06] she was for home.

[26:10] what you

[26:13] do here. hurt me off

[26:16] next week. What the best of the way we looked at me and that's

[26:22] so used to be All right

[26:26] we have about one more minute. Thank you.

[26:28] right

[26:37] So

[26:42] the Yeah

[26:46] and like do

[26:51] yeah Mhm.

[26:59] she's 3 She's the

[27:02] We

[27:06] She's gonna follow you when

[27:09] really

[27:18] All right, the time is now 10:27 a.m. Is there

[27:20] a consensus for how the case in chief will be presented?

[27:24] Yes. OK. Also

[27:27] uh, for the record, I'm I'm pulling up

[27:30] the remaining complaints complaint forms. I just

[27:33] wanna make sure that the commissioners know going in with the

[27:36] actual protected classes were. Crystal, you

[27:39] uh submitted your complaint form You said that disability was the

[27:42] protected class that you believe you were discriminated

[27:46] uh, for. Is that still the protected class that

[27:48] you're alleging? Yes, OK.

[27:58] Just bear with me. I'm, I'm going through the

[28:03] complaint forms. Bern Scott, looks like

[28:06] the protected class that you listed on the complaint form

[28:09] was age. Is that correct? OK.

[28:19] And then Nikki, on your uh complaint form, I

[28:23] think you listed financial exploitation and

[28:25] selective discrimination, uh, which are, are not necessarily

[28:28] protected classes in the city of Atlanta are are those the claims that remember

[28:32] you said something about seniors or age, a moment

[28:34] ago, but I just want to clarify for the record what

[28:37] protected class. uh, it will be the discrimination

[28:40] for seniors and then age, but it's, again, it's

[28:43] it's a mazurka. Understood, OK. Mr

[28:46] Chair. Yes. Is it possible for me to restate the

[28:50] last part of the statutory purpose that outlines the

[28:52] protected classes. You can, but really it's gonna have to be based off

[28:56] what their complaint forms said, um, you could you could

[28:59] you could say it just so that they're aware of it.

[29:02] The creative forms of discrimination involve race, color, creed

[29:05] religion, sex, marital status, parental status

[29:08] familial status, sexual orientation, national origin

[29:11] gender identity, gender expression, age, disability

[29:13] and criminal history. All

[29:17] right, if we're ready to move forward, you present your case in chief.

[29:28] Good morning. All right, you get 30 minutes, we'll start the time now. Thank

[29:31] you very much. Um, my name is

[29:34] Nikki. I am a homeowner, long

[29:37] term, long term homeowner of the landmark

[29:39] condominium. I have a few witnesses behind

[29:42] me. We like to go ahead and get started, if

[29:45] you will. Um, I want to highlight

[29:48] the seriousness of the disparity on safe conditions, and

[29:51] a retaliatory actions, the residents at the landmark condominium

[29:54] are facing under the property

[29:57] um investor board. Safety and

[30:00] fear retaliations. The homeowners feel unsafe due to

[30:03] the constant transient traffic and

[30:06] short-term renters controlled by the the property

[30:09] investors. Decades of

[30:12] 24/7 concierge security. has been removed from

[30:15] the building and the residents are ultimately

[30:18] left vulnerable. Security measures like

[30:20] butterfly system, which were added are futile, and they've been

[30:23] added for the benefit of the STR

[30:27] investors. Again, leaving the homeowners there

[30:29] vulnerable. An unlicensed property manager

[30:32] is verbally and physically abusive

[30:36] often retaliating against residents with unfettered support.

[30:40] from the investor board The building

[30:42] is effectively operating like a motel

[30:45] creating, creating noise, traffic, drugs, violence

[30:48] and unsafe conditions. Illegal and

[30:51] unsafe activities, including weed

[30:54] use vandalism, fights, stabbings shootings

[30:57] other violent incidents

[30:59] transient behavior, homelessness sleeping in the stairwells

[31:02] and throughout the building.

[31:05] It increases the homeowner's concerns. We're not certain who

[31:09] is outside of our door when we open our doors or when we

[31:12] go through the building. The lack of adequate security

[31:15] and emergency protocols while STR investors

[31:18] and visitors enjoy better protective services and

[31:21] are treated. better than the homeowners themselves.

[31:25] Financial abuses and legal exploitations

[31:28] and retaliation. We have the highest HOAs.

[31:30] in the jurisdiction. We're paying upwards of

[31:34] $1500 a month. for gas

[31:37] electricity, and a double billing of water.

[31:41] The ancient ways were raised 26%

[31:46] a combination of a few years.

[31:48] and that's what caused our HOAs to

[31:51] to rise. A federal lawsuit filed by

[31:54] an insurance company due to a fire.

[31:57] The homeowners now have been placed liable for that.

[32:01] that matter We had nothing to do with

[32:04] the fire. The fire did not take place in our personal unit. It took place

[32:06] in a private office. with a

[32:09] private company

[32:12] The building is run as shared like a

[32:15] motel prioritizing investor profits over resident

[32:18] welfare. Homeowners who actually

[32:21] uh further abuse throughout the retaliatory measures

[32:24] poor communications and transparency investor board

[32:27] rarely communicate with homeowners.

[32:29] Decisions about funding, maintenance policies are

[32:32] opaque. Homeowners are ignored

[32:35] marginalized, and retaliated against when they advocate

[32:38] for their rights.

[32:42] STR investors and and

[32:45] visitors enjoy better property. better benefits

[32:48] than the homeowners. We pay the HOAs. We are

[32:51] the ones that are now at the end

[32:55] Emotional and community impact

[32:58] Homeowner's experience stress, anxiety, fear

[33:01] for personal safety Retaliation

[33:05] as Maita shared. She's not going to speak due

[33:07] to retaliation.

[33:11] because I spoke in front of city council, several of us

[33:14] we received a xenophobic packet

[33:20] Yes

[33:22] a xenophobic packet, and we were accused

[33:25] of allegedly sending that to them, which we did not.

[33:29] And in the letter, it's specifically

[33:32] states that we need to come back in front of city council

[33:34] and recant what we said.

[33:38] Dead bodies lynched black bodies

[33:43] That's what we got A

[33:45] month later, maybe a month and a half.

[33:49] we received a defamation lawsuit

[33:52] with said xenophobic package included.

[33:57] That's what we're living with

[34:03] I have exhibits here for you.

[34:06] Um, they're a bit graphic.

[34:10] and um I will hold on, I just wanted pull them

[34:12] up for a second. We have people that come through

[34:17] the building. unclothed

[34:19] you'll, you'll see it a little bit closer.

[34:23] This is what we have coming through the building. People in front of

[34:26] the building. The landmark was a prestige place

[34:30] The senators actually lived in the building when they were in session.

[34:33] We still have a few left, but the senators, when they were

[34:36] in session, they were there.

[34:39] Isaac Hayes, um, uh, Willie Mays we have several

[34:43] baseball players. What's the other baseball player?

[34:46] Hank Aaron. Some great people lived in the building

[34:51] because of the investor was happening, that's what we have.

[34:55] People that come by ring the doorbells. We all have

[34:59] doorbell cameras on our doors now. We've all agreed to get them.

[35:02] because we have no idea what's going on in the building.

[35:06] These are kids, they're running from door to door, ringing the doorbells.

[35:11] kids

[35:15] this is a party that took place in the building

[35:18] It was inside of a unit The hallway was so

[35:21] the party was so full that they it spilled out into the hallway.

[35:27] another heckler walking by doors and

[35:29] licking his tongue. In

[35:32] the hallways of the stairwell, it states specifically

[35:35] no smoking.

[35:38] The remnants of marijuana.

[35:44] cigarette ashes throughout the stairwell and the and the windows

[35:47] a syringe. This syringe stayed

[35:51] in the window for about 3 weeks.

[35:53] When it was there, we alerted them then. No one

[35:56] did anything. There was a stabbing.

[36:00] and an STR investor visitor got into

[36:02] a fight with someone? and the person started

[36:06] stabbing them. The person ran down the hallway trying

[36:09] to get assistance, banging on doors

[36:12] Eventually made it to the hallway. His hands

[36:15] were so bloody that he could not turn the doorknob.

[36:18] He eventually got a good grip. The person stabbed him one

[36:21] more time and he stumbled down the stairs.

[36:25] These are kids coming in to party

[36:31] They eventually can't get into the building. Somebody goes through

[36:34] the exit door, they go through the exit door. Had we

[36:38] done any of those things, there would have been a fine.

[36:41] People sleeping in our lobby now

[36:45] We have a butterfly system, codes the

[36:49] the homeowner's codes deactivate it. where

[36:52] we can't get into the building

[36:56] Homelessness This is

[36:59] the landmark. This is our home. This

[37:02] is where we come. and

[37:05] we live. The investors don't live there.

[37:12] This person's sleeping on the floor. He got into the building

[37:15] He's always slept on the floor. He

[37:19] his suitcase and his bottle of whatever he's drinking.

[37:23] Somebody had to come out to that We received

[37:26] double billing of water which

[37:28] has skyrocketed our HOAs, but it's not because

[37:32] of the different use of water. The, the, the fact that we're

[37:35] using more water, it is the fact that they're constantly washing clothes

[37:38] and linens and servicing their, their, their

[37:41] and their properties We

[37:44] no longer have comment space anymore

[37:48] Our basement has been taken over by them. Our gym has been

[37:51] turned into a conference room.

[37:59] One day they showed up and they they

[38:02] started wearing t-shirts called Our Landmark, the Employees.

[38:06] Our landmarks We live there

[38:10] That's our home They don't

[38:13] but they they've been wearing t-shirts, our landmark.

[38:22] I no longer have mail sent to the landmark because

[38:24] I had a document sent there

[38:27] and an an employee was generous enough and that would

[38:30] be hearsay, but someone was generous enough to

[38:33] share that. That was what was happening in the history of

[38:35] the landmark that has never occurred. You have meals sent to your home, you

[38:38] have packages sent to your home, and you retrieve them.

[38:43] Mailboxes broken into. And additionally, they

[38:46] uh, we were told that, oh no, it's the the the people coming in

[38:49] the visitors coming in.

[38:52] I, I've never known people to go to a hotel and just

[38:54] break into mailboxes, unheard of

[39:01] This is the landmark We are part of

[39:04] the skyline. where this little building

[39:07] right here. where I'm prime

[39:09] real estate.

[39:12] beautiful location We have full

[39:16] view of going into Stone Mountain, going into Buckhead.

[39:20] prime real estate This is a gentleman

[39:23] that has, he's he's

[39:26] a visitor, rather, forgive me. and we

[39:29] have homeowners that have animals. and

[39:31] the animal, they would have to go through the basement, carry the

[39:34] animal through. This person did not. He's walking the door

[39:37] straight through the front, straight through the lobby. Had

[39:40] that been one of us we would have received a fine

[39:45] This woman shows up for some reason in front of

[39:48] my door.

[39:52] I have no idea who she is

[39:55] So I sent an email

[39:58] to the investor board president and

[40:00] I ask who is this person?

[40:04] No answer So when we contact

[40:08] the board, we have no answer. Most of the time when we contact

[40:11] the unlicensed property manager, we get no response.

[40:16] I received fines to give you a retaliatory measure. I

[40:19] received fines for helping someone move a chair.

[40:24] And because they were after me

[40:28] I received a $1000 fine.

[40:30] I forwarded it over to that homeowner.

[40:33] The homeowner shared with the management

[40:37] that, that I was helping them.

[40:40] and in short, and paraphrasing the manage the

[40:43] the unlicensed manager told her to mind her business.

[40:46] This has nothing to do with you

[40:51] We want to talk about, I want to bring up Fern Scott. We'd

[40:55] like to talk about the

[40:57] additional disparities of what we're going through

[41:00] as homeowners, as seniors

[41:04] as regular homeowners, as for people that have disabilities, we want

[41:06] to talk about that like to bring up Fern Scott, please. And just

[41:09] a time check, how much time do we have left?

[41:12] 18 minutes. Thank you. You're welcome.

[41:32] I have to take a deep breath

[41:37] I'm the homeowner that um

[41:41] Nikki spoke about who

[41:46] the spouse has passed away.

[41:51] One of the last things he said to me was,

[41:56] when is this going to be over?

[42:00] Because I spend so much time

[42:05] battling these people and all

[42:08] the problems that we're having in the

[42:11] landmark. So he left

[42:14] here probably extremely concerned for me

[42:16] to be alone, um

[42:20] I fear not only for myself, I

[42:23] feel for Miss Sita. I

[42:27] fear for Nikki because I know they retaliate

[42:29] against her. I want to know that

[42:32] she gets home safely. I

[42:35] have her text me sometimes to make sure

[42:38] she's OK. If I don't hear from her

[42:41] I worry about her. Because when I received

[42:43] my retaliatory letter for speaking in front of the council and

[42:46] I don't like public speaking, but I got the courage to go up there

[42:50] and speak. And then I received

[42:52] a defamation letter. from

[42:55] the board for speaking

[42:58] Nicky wrote a great helped me write a great letter.

[43:02] which thank goodness, um

[43:05] they didn't come back in sue me.

[43:10] and I appreciate that for Nicky, but Nikki did get

[43:15] Thank you. Nikki did get the, the lawsuit

[43:19] but she's, she's very courageous Um, so I

[43:21] just want to say that

[43:24] I'm 71 years old and this is just a lot and at

[43:28] this phase of life, to have

[43:30] to deal with. Now, my husband was handicapped and so

[43:33] was Zita. The elevators go out all the time. That's

[43:35] a huge safety issue. So my first thought is when

[43:38] the elevators are out, if something

[43:41] happens, is Zita gonna be able to get out of the building.

[43:44] because they're out for extended periods of time.

[43:48] Like Nikki said, if you don't have a camera

[43:51] you can't just open your door like we used to be able to

[43:53] do and walk out into the hallway because

[43:57] you don't know who might be there. You, you

[43:59] get on the elevator with these individuals

[44:02] They're packed on the, they get on the elevator with their cocktails

[44:05] or whatever, and their behavior is just

[44:09] terrible When you're coming into

[44:13] the building and you're a senior citizen, in

[44:15] the past, we had a concierge. So when you come

[44:18] in the building and all these uh short-term

[44:20] renters are coming up behind you

[44:24] They can um tailgate behind you.

[44:27] And if you say something that they

[44:31] don't like or I'll say, oh, wait let, I'm gonna put my

[44:33] code in and then you can enter the building.

[44:38] they can get a little aggressive OK?

[44:42] So the best thing to do is to be very careful.

[44:45] which door you enter. Park, look around

[44:49] make sure there's nobody around, and enter a door where no one

[44:52] is coming in behind you because if you come in the front, where

[44:54] they come in and there's 5 or 6 of them, first of all, they're

[44:58] gonna tailgate. They're gonna hold the doors open and

[45:00] anybody, anybody can come in that building at any

[45:03] point in time. And there's no one there

[45:07] to protect you. There's no concierge. So I cannot say don't tailgate

[45:10] behind me. They can see your code when you put it in.

[45:14] So people get the codes and they can come in the building whenever they

[45:17] get ready. So after their

[45:19] short-term rental is up, if the homeowner of

[45:22] these STR companies have not changed the code

[45:25] Somebody still has access to the building.

[45:29] So I just want you to understand

[45:32] how frightening this is for a senior citizen

[45:36] My mother owned in that building 32 years ago.

[45:41] And if I was concerned about my mother. I knew the

[45:45] concierge on a first name basis, and I could say Paul, can you

[45:48] go upstairs and check on Mom? She's nodding answering. He'd go up

[45:50] he'd check on her, she would call me back and he

[45:53] would call me back and say she's OK. There is

[45:56] no one to call, no one to help us.

[45:59] And we have pleaded with the city

[46:01] again and again and again. And I just

[46:04] cannot believe. that this could

[46:07] go on and nobody cared, and nobody helped.

[46:13] So that is what I wanted to contribute to. Was there anything else?

[46:17] ease cases

[46:20] providing them a mask to keep mask to

[46:23] keep to your place that you buy. and

[46:26] you pay for and what you do is

[46:28] you have to pay, you have to fill out the

[46:31] phone and you know so providing the master key, and then they

[46:35] can take their homes. Right

[46:37] That one really doesn't make sense, does it? Yes, um, we have

[46:40] to give them a key to our unit so that they have access

[46:43] if they feel like there's an emergency going on, but you have to pay for use

[46:46] for that key if you have an emergency. You don't

[46:49] have your key and you need them to unlock the door for you

[46:52] You have to pay for that. You have to pay for everything

[46:55] Um, it, it, it, and the fines

[46:58] you don't get a warning. You just get $1000 fine

[47:00] I think the attempt there is to get

[47:03] at least, uh, maybe $2000 worth

[47:06] of fines or, you know, lack of payment in

[47:09] arrears. It doesn't, not your HOAs. This is just a fine you

[47:12] got frivolous fine with no warning, and they can

[47:15] put a lien on your property. So they, you know

[47:17] there's ways that they are, are, are going to be able at some point, I guess

[47:21] to get all the rest of us remaining homeowners

[47:23] um, out of the building. There's there's only just a few of

[47:27] us left. I wouldn't still be in this fight if it were not

[47:29] for Nikki. She's giving me the courage to get up

[47:33] go every day or every other day, City Hall, wherever we have

[47:35] to do, uh, insurance commissioner

[47:38] anybody that we have to do to try to fight this, because I couldn't do

[47:41] this alone at my age. I could not do this.

[47:47] So that's basically what I wanted to say.

[47:50] All right, thank you so much. How much time do we

[47:54] have remaining for 11 minutes and 30 seconds.

[47:59] Hello. Just speak up a little bit louder for me.

[48:03] Or try try to pull the mic up. It's a little tough to hear

[48:05] you. OK. I

[48:08] am Crystal Augustin.

[48:11] and well I'll

[48:14] be speaking specifically about the fire that happened

[48:17] in January 2024. And

[48:20] for context, I am a 3 time war

[48:23] veteran consecutive years, and

[48:27] um I had been diagnosed with PTSD.

[48:32] anxiety disorder, agoraphobia, and um

[48:39] living under these

[48:43] conditions to where

[48:45] my unit was literally right above the fire.

[48:50] Um where my

[48:53] unit actually experienced a lot of damage

[48:56] that till this day has not been repaired.

[48:59] um

[49:08] ash covered nearly every surface

[49:11] I was forced to dispose much of my

[49:14] furniture and to this day I'm still living out

[49:17] of moving boxes. The window in

[49:20] my unit had been shattered

[49:22] um, during the incident and has never been replaced.

[49:26] I cannot open my windows for

[49:29] fresh air. And when I have episodes

[49:33] of acrophobia, that's typically my

[49:35] way of getting outdoor air just

[49:38] by cracking my windows and

[49:40] um I can't do that. I haven't been able to do that

[49:44] for 2 years now. Um.

[49:49] 2 of the three central air

[49:53] conditioning units have sustained electrical damage

[49:55] and they haven't fixed it, which means during the

[49:58] winter months, I have no heat

[50:02] During the summer, I have no cold air.

[50:05] I have like these portable fans.

[50:18] And at times, no hot water.

[50:22] Now, for much of that year, in particular

[50:25] um, there were reoccurring

[50:28] carbon monoxide leaks in the building, and there

[50:31] was no consistent ventilation because I couldn't

[50:34] crack open my windows

[50:37] so some of the side effects I would be sleeping

[50:39] all day and I never coincided

[50:42] it with the carbon monoxide poisoning

[50:45] and I was told that, oh we've evacuated the building, but

[50:48] no one told me, and I would just be

[50:51] confined in my home, um.

[50:59] so with no clear evacuation notices

[51:03] no meaningful interventions. I believe

[51:07] that my life has been placed in danger multiple times.

[51:11] and uh without

[51:14] assistance, without proper repairs, and

[51:17] without relocation support, I have literally

[51:21] been re-traumatized, so I would have versus a

[51:24] few months of agoraphobia, like I'm

[51:30] unable to work outside of my

[51:33] home and that has

[51:36] been trying for me. Uh

[51:43] So having

[51:46] been forced to survive in an environment

[51:49] that feels unsafe

[51:52] as Nikki has mentioned with

[51:54] the photos, my floor is disgusting.

[51:59] People bang on my doors. I don't know who they are. I don't have company

[52:04] so that again, reactivates my anxiety.

[52:08] and I can't call for help when I

[52:12] call the um non-emergency 911, no one comes

[52:15] out there.

[52:22] It's unstable, it's hazardous. I haven't been able to

[52:26] open the kitchen lights because again

[52:30] electrical damage, like that whole side is

[52:35] in shambles. So I'm literally living out of boxes in

[52:37] my own home. I had to get rid of everything

[52:40] Um

[52:45] so

[52:48] I'm just asking this commission to recognize that

[52:51] what has happened is not simply a maintenance

[52:53] delay. It's prolonged neglect and what

[52:57] I believe is discrimination. and that

[53:00] has endangered our health, our safety, and

[53:04] our dignity and no residents should be left

[53:07] to live, as though they are in a war zone

[53:10] having experienced it firsthand

[53:13] uh, within their own home, especially in America.

[53:17] Thank you Thank you so much. How much

[53:20] time is left for the case in chief?

[53:22] 6 minutes. All right, y'all have 6 minutes. Would you like to utilize

[53:25] that time? Yes, please. OK.

[53:28] I forgot to mention that I

[53:31] have sent repeated letters to the landmark. I

[53:33] will email and the proper way to do that, in addition

[53:36] to emailing, is to send certified mail

[53:38] and they don't accept my certified mail. It comes

[53:41] back. So I, I just waste money, you know,

[53:44] 10 $10 a pop, you know, sending

[53:47] certified mail, and they will not accept our

[53:49] letters of complaint

[53:52] or letters sent to address

[53:55] certain situations, um, that we're incurring

[53:57] Just wanted to make sure that I put that in the record. I

[54:00] have a lot of these.

[54:12] I will do closing if you don't mind, so that

[54:14] will have I will ask this uh you're free

[54:17] to do your closing how you deem appropriate if you're done with the case

[54:21] in chief for closing its 5 minutes

[54:23] that you have in total. I would like though

[54:26] my my request as the chair because I wanna make sure

[54:29] everything is on record. I mean

[54:31] we have this is your shot to kind of get out everything. I

[54:34] do want to specifically

[54:36] know from um each individual if you can't give one or

[54:39] two minutes in your closing to each person. I want

[54:42] to know based on what they alleged in their complaint was the reason they

[54:45] were discriminated against, whether it be disability

[54:47] or age or a closing regarding

[54:50] that specifically. OK? Stand by. OK, sure.

[54:53] I'll give you a couple of minutes to do that and we'll come back

[54:56] in about 10:57. Thank you.

[55:06] I You'll also

[55:08] be crying Yes. children

[55:11] have

[55:15] I guess would have folded up line

[55:19] Yeah

[55:35] All right, you can show whatever

[55:37] Thank you

[55:42] That

[55:46] people.

[55:51] That's, let's see

[55:55] all

[55:58] did to get dressed you

[56:04] to this because you know

[56:07] Yeah. still

[56:10] got a shape. I me

[57:52] All right, it's 10:57. Do we have a consensus in terms of

[57:55] the closing statement?

[58:01] Uh, it's 10:57. Is there a consensus for

[58:04] how you'd like to present the closing statement?

[58:12] and we will start the timer now, there's

[58:15] 5 minutes for closing statements Yes ma'am.

[58:26] It's a little bit difficult. Let's let's see if there's

[58:29] a microphone issue. It's a little difficult to hear you.

[58:38] We just pause the time mark.

[58:44] testing. I want to reiterate the fact

[58:47] that age in this scenario is a huge

[58:50] factor because I am fearful. I

[58:53] uh, because of my age and several other seniors in

[58:56] the in the building. There are two other seniors

[58:59] that come to mind, uh, that are in

[59:02] their 80s. This is scary for us

[59:05] This is difficult. So it, it

[59:07] I think that they feel like it's easy

[59:11] to intimidate us because of our age. There it's

[59:13] hard for us, harder for us to fight back. You

[59:16] it, a defamation letter sent to

[59:19] a senior citizen in their 80s. That's gonna shut them down

[59:22] I guarantee you. They are not gonna be able

[59:25] to retaliate. I'm not re retaliate

[59:29] but respond to that. um, with, without some help or

[59:31] some assistance. It's scary. and I

[59:36] feel like because of my age, Masita and some of

[59:38] the other people in the building we're

[59:41] targeted because we're an easy target. because

[59:45] uh, you know, even something as simple as

[59:47] saying that we cannot pay

[59:50] our HOA fees by check anymore

[59:54] We're forced to use one of these websites that

[59:56] you need some assistance with when

[59:59] for us, it was so much easier to write a

[1:00:02] check and put it into the box to pay

[1:00:05] your fees. They are no longer

[1:00:08] accepting checks. in the

[1:00:10] Dropbox. You're forced to pay online.

[1:00:14] So if you don't have a

[1:00:17] computer experts expertise or you're

[1:00:21] not, um, you know, accustomed to doing that kind of thing, paying

[1:00:23] your bills online or whatever. This is tough

[1:00:26] for us. So that's one of the things that I

[1:00:30] feel like is, is, is discriminatory. Why would you take

[1:00:33] that? You could just walk downstairs right outside

[1:00:35] the office, and drop your check into

[1:00:38] the mailbox. There's no one there now, by the way. There

[1:00:41] is, there, the office manager is

[1:00:44] invisible wherever she is. I haven't seen her in, I don't know how long

[1:00:48] So the days for you, if you had an issue when you were an

[1:00:50] older person and didn't know how to do these

[1:00:54] things electronically and could go down to the office manager and

[1:00:57] get some help with filling out a form or submitting

[1:01:00] a maintenance request and that type of thing

[1:01:03] Those days are gone So I

[1:01:06] I think that is definitely uh discriminatory.

[1:01:09] against older persons and just another way to try to get us

[1:01:13] out of the building. Thank you. How much time is left for

[1:01:15] closing statement, Samaria?

[1:01:18] 2 minutes. All right, y'all have 2 minutes collectively.

[1:01:22] Yes, ma'am.

[1:01:27] The discriminatory actions against

[1:01:29] disability, I feel. um, with each

[1:01:32] property management company, uh I make

[1:01:35] it a point to notify them

[1:01:38] of my specific disabilities and

[1:01:40] what I found was that

[1:01:46] I believe that it's

[1:01:49] intentionally, some of the actions have

[1:01:52] been intentionally done to activate. my disability

[1:01:56] or reaggravate it. And I say that because

[1:02:00] although there are signs by the city that state to

[1:02:04] no longer do construction. Um.

[1:02:07] to be below me that endured the fire, um

[1:02:12] the banging constantly knocking on

[1:02:14] my door, saying that they needed to inspect

[1:02:18] um the units so that they can see what damage is, but

[1:02:21] nothing is done. They just want

[1:02:25] access to my unit and

[1:02:27] walk around and nothing gets done. And this has

[1:02:30] been for the past 2 years

[1:02:33] absolutely nothing. Um different

[1:02:36] um, companies that they would get

[1:02:39] to fix, I forget the names of it Epic, was

[1:02:41] one that I remember the most that would come into my

[1:02:45] unit and absolutely nothing would be. done

[1:02:48] OK Um

[1:02:51] but nonetheless, they have been notified and

[1:02:54] nothing has been done to

[1:02:57] assist or fix any of the issues that were caused in the unit.

[1:03:01] Thank you. Thank you. We have a

[1:03:05] 32nd warning. All right, 30 seconds. Thank

[1:03:08] you. So in short and in closing

[1:03:10] um, we are, um, in a, a

[1:03:13] very precarious situation. This has been a five-year fight and

[1:03:16] ongoing. Um, they've also placed cameras in the hallways and throughout

[1:03:19] the building, not merely for the security of it, but to

[1:03:22] watch us. So, so we're clear about that. This

[1:03:24] is financial genocide, if you will. This is a

[1:03:27] systematic way of expelling the building

[1:03:30] or location of what they want. Um, this is a

[1:03:34] racial matter because one of the upper staff of

[1:03:37] that group told another person that not to rent to

[1:03:39] black people. because we are

[1:03:42] a problem And that's time, I'm

[1:03:46] sorry, Miss. But. It's OK. Thank you. All right

[1:03:48] Getting tired. I think you all very much. Thank you so much for coming out

[1:03:52] Within 30 days of today's hearing date

[1:03:55] we'll send out a finding 00 yes, OK

[1:03:57] Look, I was about to skip the for for the questions, but yeah

[1:04:01] so now we'll allow commissioners a chance, but just so I

[1:04:04] get my thought out. So within 30

[1:04:06] days after the hearing, you'll receive findings of fact

[1:04:09] What I want to say before the commissioners uh ask their

[1:04:12] questions just while it's on my mind. Uh, do you know if

[1:04:15] anybody has provided a proposed findings

[1:04:18] of facts from from the group just yet

[1:04:21] And that's just basically uh a proposed list of

[1:04:23] facts that you want us to take into account when making a decision.

[1:04:27] We did not bring them with us, but we did definitely compile them and get them to

[1:04:30] you. Yes, so what I'll ask that you do is by

[1:04:33] Friday at 5 p.m. just submit to the Office

[1:04:36] of Constituent Services. We have a HRC

[1:04:39] uh, email handle. If you can email those to us, we'll take

[1:04:42] those into consideration whenever we make our decision

[1:04:45] OK? That would be our honor. Thank you. All right, so at this point in

[1:04:48] time I will allow the commissioners to ask questions regarding

[1:04:51] um, anybody can answer those questions or if they have questions for a

[1:04:54] specific complaint they can. We'll start with Commissioner uh

[1:04:57] Humpback Will Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um

[1:05:00] thank, thank you all for, for being here

[1:05:03] this morning, um, and sharing your experience with us

[1:05:05] Uh, a question that I have is

[1:05:09] the packet that you all that you said that you received with the

[1:05:12] the photos and images. Do you

[1:05:14] is there, do you have, do you still have that? I can get that to you

[1:05:17] as well. OK. Yeah. Um

[1:05:25] um, the investors, where are they where are they located

[1:05:28] They don't live in the building, I'll tell you that

[1:05:31] they reside um in various places throughout

[1:05:34] the city, um, up into Alpharettas. Most of them, a great

[1:05:36] deal of them are out of the

[1:05:39] country. But they are they're not residents of

[1:05:43] the landmark. They don't live there. They have never lived there. OK.

[1:05:45] Um do you all have any contact

[1:05:48] with them at all outside of them

[1:05:52] sending fines. Would

[1:05:54] you rephrase your question, please? Do you have any contact? Do you have

[1:05:57] any verbal or email contact

[1:06:00] with them at all? We have contact with them

[1:06:03] when they inflict a fine or when they want us to

[1:06:06] pay dues or assessments. OK.

[1:06:10] Uh, I think that's all my questions right now. All right

[1:06:12] Commissioner Burks, a couple of questions. Um

[1:06:15] just points of clarity to make sure I'm, I'm following

[1:06:18] this correctly. There are 200 units, and

[1:06:21] of those 200 units, 10 or or

[1:06:23] roughly thereof are occupied by owner residents

[1:06:26] Is that correct? That is correct OK

[1:06:29] Um, in terms of

[1:06:32] interacting with the investors you interact with

[1:06:35] the investors through the vehicle of the

[1:06:38] homeowners Association or is there a separate body through which

[1:06:41] you interact with them? Well, let me give some clarity so this

[1:06:44] will make sense. The board actually now

[1:06:47] is encompassed of all property

[1:06:49] investors. We're estate agents, investors, there are

[1:06:52] no homeowners or residents that actually are

[1:06:55] on the board. They've blocked many of us from

[1:06:57] voting. So they've actually just taken over

[1:07:00] a confiscated the board much like they confiscated our common areas. President and treasurer

[1:07:04] and the president and Treasurer. How many members are on that board?

[1:07:07] 5.5 Um

[1:07:10] we'll find visible ones. In terms of the uh elevators

[1:07:13] what's the frequency, uh, with which they tend to

[1:07:15] go out. If you had to say in a given month how many times in a given month?

[1:07:20] from your experience Well, there was a time where the elevators

[1:07:22] were completely down for about a week

[1:07:28] OK Um, I could, I if someone says

[1:07:31] something, I just couldn't hear that. I just want to make sure I'm hearing clear

[1:07:34] clearly. OK, so there, there was a

[1:07:37] point where there's a point where the elevators

[1:07:40] were down simultaneously for a week.

[1:07:43] There was a point where we'll have we have 3 elevators. One

[1:07:46] would be down for months

[1:07:49] or 2 would be down from us, and we'd have 1 operating elevator.

[1:07:53] Just got about 3 more questions. In terms of In terms of in terms of

[1:07:56] the elevator when there are concerns when it goes out you have a

[1:08:01] uh, I'm assuming this this homeowners association has a, a process for

[1:08:04] submitting tickets or maintenance requests, and

[1:08:06] I'm assuming you all followed those, but if, if not, tell me what

[1:08:09] that process is quickly, if you don't mind. There is

[1:08:12] no process. OK. Um

[1:08:16] you talk about your association, uh, your

[1:08:18] your monthly, um, association

[1:08:22] uh, fees, increasing to roughly

[1:08:25] $1500 when you started out at Landmark, what were they?

[1:08:29] Re roughly $300 and I thought that was a lot and

[1:08:32] so when I moved in, I knotted up about that

[1:08:36] um, and incrementally throughout the years, they would raise them We had

[1:08:39] a healthy reserve. and so there would be

[1:08:43] you know, maybe a 1 or 2 years where they would not, they

[1:08:46] didn't feel necessary to raise them, but they would specifically raise them

[1:08:48] no more than the CPI, which is usually 1.2 to

[1:08:52] 1.5%. Um, and in this case

[1:08:55] um, the largest HOA is over $1500.

[1:08:58] over and that

[1:09:01] that's excluding the assessments that they've, um,

[1:09:03] inflicted upon us.

[1:09:06] The last one, centers around just the

[1:09:10] types of, I've heard you you all individually talk about we

[1:09:12] were charged for this charge for that just if I could

[1:09:15] get just hear some of what those are

[1:09:17] just beyond just we were charged additional fees where you

[1:09:20] charged for X

[1:09:23] What are those specific charges? Are

[1:09:26] you referencing assessments or you

[1:09:28] specifically speaking lines. Let me, let me clarify that

[1:09:32] Fines in particular. I'm curious what

[1:09:35] the finds the fine amounts were. But the types

[1:09:38] of fines, even if you don't know the amount, just

[1:09:40] the tax amount amount Sure. Uh, I can, I can give you a couple

[1:09:43] Um, as I stated earlier

[1:09:46] I, a neighbor just asked me to help move a chair. It required

[1:09:49] two people to carry said chair. It's just, you know, not two people had

[1:09:52] to carry it, that was just the bottom line. And

[1:09:55] no problem. You're my neighbor. I have no problem

[1:09:58] doing that. And we did. And this was at this point, I've been speaking in front of

[1:10:01] city council and the Senate, multiple times

[1:10:04] a week. So I was on, I was at Target and I

[1:10:07] ended up receiving a $1000 fine.

[1:10:09] The fine specifically read that I did

[1:10:13] not rent the elevator.

[1:10:15] That was a $500 fine, and the fact that I moved a bulky chair

[1:10:18] Another find that I did receive when the

[1:10:22] butterfly system was activated April 1st

[1:10:25] of 2025. Um

[1:10:28] the concierge at the time was explaining something to me, so

[1:10:31] I'm standing in the door and the

[1:10:33] unlicensed property manager.

[1:10:36] became combative and she came outside I needed to close the door, that there was

[1:10:40] an alarm that would sound in 3

[1:10:42] seconds, 3 to 8 seconds, and, um which made no sense

[1:10:45] because if you have people coming in with disabilities

[1:10:49] it takes longer than 3 to 8 seconds to, you know, that that

[1:10:51] that would, that's unnerving. So

[1:10:54] um, she proceeded to push past me, and she starts

[1:10:58] to push the door that didn't

[1:11:00] go well. Um, I stood back outside of

[1:11:03] the door and I started recording and she advi

[1:11:06] s ed the concierge in short, to call the police

[1:11:09] The police were called. I waited I spoke with

[1:11:11] them, and

[1:11:14] she filed a report alleging that it was disorderly conduct in conjunction

[1:11:17] with that, I received a fine of

[1:11:20] $500 for my disorderly conduct. OK

[1:11:22] Uh, there is one other that, that I'm, I'm glad you said what

[1:11:25] you said because it triggered that, that one I've been trying to remember

[1:11:28] I've heard all of you talk about concierge in some

[1:11:31] shape, form or fashion, just a point of clarity

[1:11:35] Is there a concierge at

[1:11:37] the property now that functions the way it functions when you all

[1:11:40] first started as owners

[1:11:43] Absolutely not. There is not. There, there

[1:11:45] there is a concierge sometimes.

[1:11:48] and you never know when that's going to be

[1:11:52] And I, and so the last time I entered the building, there was no one there

[1:11:54] And there, and, and as a part of your monthly fees

[1:11:57] you're paying for that salary. Yes, you're paying

[1:12:00] for a concierge to be on staff, but let me, let

[1:12:03] me, if I can, uh, clarify

[1:12:06] um, if I can, if I could further clarify that

[1:12:09] as well. And it's not necessarily concierge. These

[1:12:12] concierge, it's a regency company that will

[1:12:15] sit in every so often and then they have um one

[1:12:18] of their people that'll sit in as conci er ge but it's not to

[1:12:21] help us, and they only sit there for a few hours. It's to help

[1:12:24] sign in the um the STR investor

[1:12:28] guests that are coming in. Thank you. No further questions

[1:12:31] for me. Alright, Commissioner Sne.

[1:12:34] Thank you for your

[1:12:37] appearing today. A couple of questions, um,

[1:12:42] when, when you talk about the investors

[1:12:46] when did that group begin as a group that you

[1:12:49] would refer to as investors.

[1:12:52] They began around 2020 is when the ball

[1:12:55] started rolling so people started moving out

[1:12:58] and renting as Airbnb, so more

[1:13:02] or less. No, what ended up happening, once

[1:13:04] these, this group managed to infiltrate

[1:13:07] the board. Then they systematically started

[1:13:11] making matters more difficult for homeowners and a, and a great deal of

[1:13:13] the homeowners that did move our seniors. It was

[1:13:16] a former a person that recently moved. She was going to move her mother

[1:13:19] into the building, but due to the

[1:13:22] cantankerousness that occurs in the building on

[1:13:25] a 24/7 basis. that

[1:13:27] option she decided to sell the unit and

[1:13:31] um, you mentioned that Xenophobic package that

[1:13:34] was sent to you, was there a name of

[1:13:38] who sent that? What do you know exactly where that

[1:13:40] came from? Yes. and

[1:13:43] and the, the xenophobic package

[1:13:46] as surrounded by the unlicensed manager and the board.

[1:13:50] So the unlicensed manager is the one that, and it

[1:13:53] came from a law firm. OK. And

[1:13:56] kind of infiltrated that way. OK

[1:13:58] And, uh, I think my

[1:14:01] last question, when did you go to the city council and

[1:14:04] present all your information approximately.

[1:14:08] I've been battling this for about 5 years now, so I'm so

[1:14:11] sorry. You've been there more than once. Yes

[1:14:14] OK. And has there been any recourse yet

[1:14:17] ? No. Do they, are they in touch with you at

[1:14:20] all? or is there an ongoing

[1:14:23] situation with them that you return or how, how do you

[1:14:26] end up appearing before them more than once.

[1:14:30] I get up the night, I write of his of his speech the

[1:14:32] night before. I prepare. I come in every time there's a

[1:14:35] uh an opportunity to speak in front of a

[1:14:39] committee or a safety zoning or um if they

[1:14:42] have full committee, I actually

[1:14:46] public comment section. OK. All right.

[1:14:49] Thank you. Can you hear me better? I could

[1:14:52] hear you. Yeah, right, and we'll go with

[1:14:55] uh, Commissioner Claiborne Can you tell us what are

[1:14:59] the percentages of Airbnb occupants

[1:15:04] um, that currently occupy this, this, uh, property

[1:15:06] Do you know it is, when you say there's

[1:15:10] 10 homeowners left or

[1:15:12] the balance Airbnb, occupants

[1:15:15] The, the building operates as a whole town, so none

[1:15:18] of those investors reside in the building

[1:15:21] So if they've not um

[1:15:24] rented their unit out. if you will, Airbnb using

[1:15:26] that just as an example. Um, then the unit

[1:15:30] just stays empty until, but they they have pretty regular

[1:15:35] visitors coming in. I, I

[1:15:37] I'd like to ask this question. In addition

[1:15:40] to the uh HOA that you're paying

[1:15:43] Are any of you all

[1:15:46] paying uh a mortgage or, or on top of

[1:15:49] the HOA? Are y'all doing that? Yes

[1:15:53] OK. Is it pretty much all of y'all?

[1:15:56] or OK, um

[1:15:59] last question. When you presented or approached the

[1:16:02] city council, what

[1:16:04] was their response to your comments? Well

[1:16:09] I think shock first and honesty

[1:16:11] because of the egregiousness of what's taking place

[1:16:14] Um, we were fortunate enough

[1:16:17] uh, March 25th of 2025, there

[1:16:20] was a um a committee meeting, if you will. So most

[1:16:23] of the people that are

[1:16:26] STR investors or property investors were

[1:16:29] in-house. None of, we were not aware of it. So had we known we

[1:16:32] would have been there. So, in short

[1:16:35] the landmark condominium bought their concierge.

[1:16:39] Um, they bought an investor. They bought

[1:16:43] the cer a board member and then the unlicensed manager spoke

[1:16:47] And if you get a chance, you can pull it up. It's the March

[1:16:49] 25, 25 uh hearing

[1:16:53] And um Liliana Bahtiari actually

[1:16:56] gave them a bit of a tongue lashing.

[1:16:59] and um and, and, and, and it went from there. So

[1:17:02] we felt hopeful that

[1:17:05] somebody understood and that somebody was stand

[1:17:07] up and and help us, and I think again in April

[1:17:11] was when we spoke in front of you know them again

[1:17:14] the full council and um

[1:17:17] and Liliana again spoke, and this

[1:17:20] is when we received the, the packet as well

[1:17:23] but Liliana spoke up again and, and so

[1:17:25] she understood. I think she really understood. She had, she had a grasp of

[1:17:28] what's going on. Um, and again

[1:17:32] I'm going to leave speculation out of it as to why I

[1:17:35] I think no one's helping us because we've been

[1:17:37] in front of every

[1:17:40] governmental agency that was available to us and then some

[1:17:44] And it always turns back to, well

[1:17:46] you guys just need to pay your HAs. The problem with

[1:17:50] that is everybody's so upside down we spent

[1:17:53] over $200,000 between the

[1:17:56] homeowners, between us getting attorneys.

[1:18:02] attorneys, because we just, we didn't have a way out. This

[1:18:05] has been 5 years. Over

[1:18:08] $200,000. I will say this just for the sake of time, Commissioner Claiborne, do you

[1:18:08] have

[1:18:11] any follow-up questions briefly? Just one final question

[1:18:14] Does landmark know you all are here today? They probably

[1:18:17] do because they initially when we had the meeting, the meeting was scheduled

[1:18:20] for August 8th of last year, and for some reason it

[1:18:23] was canceled. They didn't let, we weren't alerted about

[1:18:26] it, so we actually, I flew in from out of town. We all

[1:18:29] came in and then they alerted us that the meeting had

[1:18:31] been canceled and that the landmark allegedly

[1:18:35] said that they had, they didn't have enough

[1:18:38] information or something was missing and so they didn't allow them to

[1:18:42] prepare properly. And so, you know, it was just pushed back

[1:18:44] to now, so that's where we are. So yeah, absolutely

[1:18:47] Thank you. And I will say for the commissioners that are present, um

[1:18:51] uh, OCS did send out notices to everybody as well and

[1:18:54] in August there was a lapse in commissioners and we

[1:18:57] didn't have quorums, so I had to be pushed out to when it was

[1:19:00] I'll just have one final question just briefly, if there is

[1:19:02] a finding that there was some form of

[1:19:05] alleged discrimination. What would you all like to see as the recourse

[1:19:08] ? What would you like for us to do if we can

[1:19:11] we can't offer monetary compensation

[1:19:14] um, but is there something that you would like to see happen after this

[1:19:16] ? Outside of monetary, yes. let's

[1:19:20] let's, let's caucus this. OK.

[1:19:28] There's nowhere

[1:19:33] OK. Well, you OK. Mhm.

[1:19:38] As Nikki has stated, we have gone before

[1:19:40] the council multiple times. Um

[1:19:43] council member Batiari is no longer

[1:19:47] our councilperson. We have a new councilperson.

[1:19:51] and it is Winston

[1:19:54] Jason Winston.

[1:19:56] and I feel like we need

[1:19:59] his support. Um

[1:20:02] citywide council member Julian Bond

[1:20:05] spoke in our favor also that Nikki has come

[1:20:08] up here every month, and we need to

[1:20:10] do something. We need to stop the

[1:20:14] the STR situation in the city and

[1:20:17] support them, and they voted that down, or they put it

[1:20:20] on hold. So it's just sitting there. So we need

[1:20:22] the city to support us.

[1:20:26] It's extremely frustrating to come before

[1:20:28] write letters and do these. This is the process.

[1:20:33] as citizens in Fulton County that we're supposed

[1:20:36] to follow. We are following that process. It's

[1:20:39] part of whatever it is we're supposed to submit, we can give

[1:20:42] you the letters. We can give you the, the fine

[1:20:45] We can, I've, we've talked to the city solicitor.

[1:20:50] uh, Erica Smith. Uh, we've been to court when they find them

[1:20:53] We do everything that we are supposed

[1:20:55] to do. We just need help. We can't do it on

[1:20:59] our own. All right. Understood, you all are free to go. Again

[1:21:02] remember finding the facts. You could uh submit that to

[1:21:05] the HRC email address by 5

[1:21:08] p.m. Each individual can, or you could do one collectively as

[1:21:10] a group and then within 30 days you'll receive our decision

[1:21:13] OK? Thank you all so much for the go. Thank you

[1:21:16] for coming. Thank you Thank you. Thank you

[1:21:19] very much. All right, we're gonna move forward with the agenda. We're

[1:21:22] on G commission Officer updates. I'll start

[1:21:25] briefly with mine. I had a conversation with

[1:21:28] Kim Gibson. She's the executive director for

[1:21:30] DisabilityL Link. It's an

[1:21:33] organization that helps individuals with disability in terms of training

[1:21:36] uh, provides them with resources they

[1:21:40] uh, offer support to citizens of the city

[1:21:42] of Atlanta. Um I wanted to have

[1:21:46] a commissioner go and actually speak when they do their general

[1:21:49] body meetings. Commissioner Snell has agreed

[1:21:51] to be the lead on that, so she'll be working with

[1:21:55] the executive director to get us some representation

[1:21:58] at a disability link meeting. Chair, um, might

[1:22:00] I also offer to the commissioner that we do

[1:22:04] have a citywide director of disability

[1:22:06] access and ADA compliance, who works with DisabilityL Link, so it might

[1:22:09] be a good idea to coordinate that conversation

[1:22:12] so you have a staff representative as well as a commissioner

[1:22:16] and process, um, and I'll be happy to make that connection for Commissioner Snell.

[1:22:20] That sounds great. OK, and I also had a conversation

[1:22:22] with Chris McCain and Steven

[1:22:25] A Gaushi, who are representatives for Pride

[1:22:29] Atlanta. They host the

[1:22:31] annual Pride Festival each year and Commissioner

[1:22:34] Claiborne knows more about that. She used to be a board member on

[1:22:36] their board. I had a conversation with them yesterday

[1:22:39] Um, there are opportunities for us to potentially have

[1:22:42] a tent during the festival

[1:22:45] pass out information as it relates to the commission and kind

[1:22:48] of get our name out there. She's agreed

[1:22:51] to communicate, uh, or converse with them to see what's possible as

[1:22:54] it relates to that. So she's gonna be the team lead on that.

[1:22:56] Uh, just clarifying, that's

[1:23:00] uh Atlanta ride, not OK, I just want to make sure we were all talking about

[1:23:03] this Atlantic ride. Yes, and we actually have

[1:23:05] a city of Atlanta

[1:23:08] uh, structure process so we can also collaborate which Gabrielle

[1:23:12] knows cause she's been in the parade, we are, we ride in the

[1:23:14] parade, you know, so that's all the same bucket, and if you want to

[1:23:17] think about what y'all might want to do with that piece as well. We can

[1:23:20] Perfect. Alright. Alright, so we have our commissioners that are leads

[1:23:23] whatever y'all decide to do, I trust you with it. I just wanted to get the ball

[1:23:26] rolling, to start building those relationships. All right, Tony, do you have a vice

[1:23:29] chair's update?

[1:23:32] Pretty simple. We, um, we'll be getting

[1:23:34] with Josh. He's looking at his schedule, aligning

[1:23:37] with ours so that we can probably

[1:23:40] do a uh a team's meeting

[1:23:42] to um take the documents that we

[1:23:46] have and um use them to

[1:23:48] think through how we will redo the code and

[1:23:51] so those committees, subcommittee members are

[1:23:54] task force committee members

[1:23:56] our commissioner Claiborne and, you know

[1:23:59] your last name is literally jumped out of my head in this moment.

[1:24:01] But Madam Secretary. All right

[1:24:04] Bree is not present for the treasurer's report

[1:24:08] Um, we'll move on to City of Atlanta staff updates. We

[1:24:11] have on here Commissioner Baels and headshots. Candice, do you

[1:24:13] want to just briefly go over that? Uh, yes, thank you

[1:24:17] everyone for submitting those who have submitting

[1:24:20] your headshots and bios. We are updating the

[1:24:23] website, so please, um, if you have not drop it into the

[1:24:25] folder and email went out about

[1:24:28] 2 or 3 days ago, just asking you to do that. Um, and

[1:24:31] there's a folder that you can put it in, so thank you for

[1:24:33] that. Um, additional ly um, just FYI, we have

[1:24:38] uh, potentially two new members who are interested. Obviously, uh, Deborah Snell

[1:24:40] who recommended Chuck, we're finishing up that

[1:24:44] conversation. We have another potential member, Iman

[1:24:47] who, um, I would love to have a commissioner chat with

[1:24:49] so if someone is interested in doing that, let me know. I'll

[1:24:52] make the connection. Um, we think she'd be a

[1:24:55] great appointment. She comes recommended from a number of

[1:24:57] different um folks familiar with the council

[1:25:03] um, and then we are working on a FIFA training which I'm sure the

[1:25:05] chair will talk about, but that is in process chair and we did get a OK they'd like to do it in

[1:25:05] April

[1:25:09] so it's on the books, we just need to figure out what we want that to be. Um, and

[1:25:11] then I will be sending out the

[1:25:14] contact list for a final review, you all, just so you have everybody's

[1:25:18] phone number. I've had a couple people saying I'm trying to reach this person

[1:25:21] um, so make sure you, it's in the folder, but I'll just put it at

[1:25:23] the top of your box for final checks on titles, all

[1:25:26] of that as well and then um as

[1:25:29] you all land the meeting

[1:25:32] uh, commissioner Burks with Josh I just like to be in the scheduling conversation from the

[1:25:32] beginning

[1:25:35] so we can make sure we're there. Thank you. That

[1:25:38] concludes my report. Perfect, Josh, do you have anything that you'd like to update us with?

[1:25:42] Uh, no updates, but I, I

[1:25:45] mentioned to Commissioner Burks that I'm looking

[1:25:48] to schedule that meeting for next week. Um

[1:25:51] likely Thursday or Friday, so I'm, I'll, I'll

[1:25:54] meet with you all uh offline

[1:25:57] to confirm. Yeah, right after this to confirm

[1:26:00] a time, um, that is convenient to

[1:26:03] everyone. All right, perfect. Mario, do you have any updates

[1:26:06] ? Just in general?

[1:26:10] No, no updates currently. All right, I

[1:26:12] wanna thank you all again. I know I try to

[1:26:15] do it every opportunity that I get, but I know that everybody has

[1:26:19] a million 1 million things that they could be working on, so we

[1:26:21] do appreciate uh your help to the commission and

[1:26:24] your service to Atlanta. Alright we'll move on to

[1:26:27] old business, uh, budget. I ask

[1:26:30] that we hold that budget vote until

[1:26:32] the April meeting. I have a meeting with Candace

[1:26:35] I invited Brie as well. That meeting is gonna be scheduled

[1:26:38] for next Friday. We're just gonna do a quick meeting just to

[1:26:41] discuss the budget and see if we need to make it a revisions. So is there

[1:26:44] a motion to move that vote until the April meeting

[1:26:46] ? So move. All right, is there a second?

[1:26:50] All right. All those in favor? All

[1:26:53] those opposed? Any abstentions? All right, we'll move that to

[1:26:55] the agenda for the April meeting Next

[1:26:58] the FIFA meeting, I've been in contact with Candace regarding

[1:27:01] that as well, just a training or to have a representative come and

[1:27:04] speak to us. Uh, the representative

[1:27:06] has agreed to come to the April meeting, so there's no need to

[1:27:09] do a virtual meeting. So as

[1:27:12] appointed FYL they'll be here next month, OK? Alright

[1:27:14] we'll move on to new business. The only thing I propose for

[1:27:17] new business was I wanted to get our HOC

[1:27:21] form translated to Spanish so that our

[1:27:24] Spanish speaking population uh can have access to the form and be able to

[1:27:27] read and understand it. Candice, do you know how we would go about doing that?

[1:27:31] Absolutely. We have that process at the city for forms

[1:27:33] my one note might be to review that form

[1:27:37] with all the pieces that

[1:27:40] uh, Commissioner Burks is walking through because we said there, there

[1:27:42] were some questions we had about the form, but once it

[1:27:45] is finalized, um, immigrant and international

[1:27:48] affairs provides translation services for us. We also can turn

[1:27:51] it into things like braille. We can put it in

[1:27:54] multiple languages, um, we can post it online with a screen reader

[1:27:57] for folks who have visual um needs. So yes

[1:28:00] um, but let's make sure it matches your new structure and then absolutely happy

[1:28:03] to translate. I love that. OK, and we'll just

[1:28:06] uh just FYI I thought of that, so I wanted to bring it to the commission. So we'll

[1:28:09] table that for now, but my goal is to have the form

[1:28:12] at least translated into Spanish

[1:28:15] uh before the end of the year. OK, case

[1:28:18] review. So you know with these, we kind of

[1:28:21] move relatively quickly. I ask that our

[1:28:24] secretary just try to take as many notes if you

[1:28:26] need me to slow down, Sarah, just let me know.

[1:28:29] Alright. So going from the master list

[1:28:32] that Commissioner Hunt Blackwell sent out.

[1:28:35] a couple of days ago. We have

[1:28:38] Zara Punanni. That case, the findings of facts

[1:28:42] have been sent out to the parties. Correct me if I'm wrong

[1:28:45] Amaria. Those findings of facts for the Punjani Dental

[1:28:48] case have gone out, correct? Have we gotten any response from

[1:28:52] them? Have they said anything one way or another? Alright. So

[1:28:54] that case is closed. Uh, we did the hearing for

[1:28:57] that last time it's closed. Nay, dear Panjwani

[1:29:01] uh, that case we heard today. Uh

[1:29:04] we gave them until Friday to provide us

[1:29:06] with statements of facts. I use those statement of facts

[1:29:09] to draft our findings of fact. um

[1:29:13] I'll ask that, you know, I'll keep commissioners updated

[1:29:16] in terms of the email of, of when

[1:29:19] I'd like for you all to submit your

[1:29:24] uh proposed findings of facts in your votes for how to move forward. My question is, I have

[1:29:24] a

[1:29:27] question for Josh. When I asked commissioners to do it in the

[1:29:30] past is just send me an email with whether or not

[1:29:33] they found discrimination, um, in a

[1:29:36] short, you know, synopsis of what they like included in the findings of

[1:29:39] fact, can individuals send those to me directly

[1:29:42] ? Do they need to go to the group as a whole?

[1:29:45] They can send them to you directly. Um, it, it, it

[1:29:48] may be helpful to the other commissioners to know

[1:29:51] their thinking. So, uh, we'll leave that to

[1:29:53] the commissioners, um, how they see fit

[1:29:57] but, um, there, there's no

[1:29:59] requirements on how you deliberate and

[1:30:02] uh ultimately how you express your wishes to the chair

[1:30:06] All right. Great. So it's up to you all, how do you, how

[1:30:08] do you decide to send me that information. I will provide an

[1:30:11] email just stating the due date, which will probably be Tuesday, 2

[1:30:14] days after all, uh, information is closed. Tony, you had

[1:30:17] a response? So one of the things that has

[1:30:20] has, uh, that I've wrestled with

[1:30:23] is when we have these hearings and we get

[1:30:25] feedback, uh, what we hear from

[1:30:28] them, we don't have

[1:30:31] the time in real time like here to kind

[1:30:33] of just talk through it

[1:30:36] um, even if I, you know, I know there's more information coming

[1:30:39] in, but there's something to be said for being able to kind of

[1:30:42] talk through it with this

[1:30:45] body and still take time to reflect

[1:30:47] on independently and then send you a statement. I know

[1:30:50] that is potentially more time, but it's just something that

[1:30:53] has been on my mind, um.

[1:30:56] because there's an element of what we do that's deliberative.

[1:30:59] and it feels weird

[1:31:02] to hear it them walk out and then we

[1:31:05] go to the next item on

[1:31:07] the agenda. So just, just a, just a thing about process

[1:31:10] that I'm processing.

[1:31:13] Is there from a legal perspective, um,

[1:31:16] Josh, is there any concern with the

[1:31:19] discussion after the case concludes amongst the commission

[1:31:25] There isn't a legal issue, um.

[1:31:27] I, I'll note that while we're still trying to figure

[1:31:31] out the recording of each hearing. We are

[1:31:34] currently being recorded still, even though the hearing

[1:31:37] has ceased, so, um, to

[1:31:40] the extent your deliberations

[1:31:43] um, uh, you wanted to keep them private. Um

[1:31:46] they currently are going to be broadcast

[1:31:48] but other than that, the commission

[1:31:51] can build in a, a period

[1:31:54] um to discuss um what you were just presented.

[1:31:57] And I will if you decided that you did not want to

[1:32:00] be recorded if we turn off all

[1:32:04] abovehead microphones, they will not transmit the

[1:32:06] audio, um, and then I can also notify

[1:32:10] our recording team at different times if we'd like to conclude

[1:32:13] the broadcast, or for the recording, it's not broadcasted.

[1:32:16] What I recommend doing, because I

[1:32:19] know specifically uh emotions can be high

[1:32:21] especially right after the hearing has taken place. So

[1:32:24] for us transitioning into open discussion

[1:32:27] may may be um in

[1:32:30] my opinion, may not be the best decision right after. I

[1:32:33] do welcome whenever we have

[1:32:35] um reflections that that if a commissioner wants to bring up

[1:32:38] any reflections from the meeting or from from

[1:32:41] the hearing, I think that that may be the best just to

[1:32:43] give everybody a time a chance to kind of filter out

[1:32:46] of the room. I really appreciate that, um, chair

[1:32:50] I I think it's a great idea to make space. The thing

[1:32:52] I would also offer as practice of

[1:32:55] a commission, you're making a group decision and

[1:32:58] so your ability to influence each other and to

[1:33:01] think together about the outcomes is a great idea and

[1:33:04] so if you can do that during reflections, I think it could be

[1:33:07] beneficial um overall, and again we can

[1:33:10] uh conclude the recorded portion and determine how you want to do

[1:33:13] that. I, I would encourage us to

[1:33:17] consider a a a time just before reflections

[1:33:19] that specifically on the agenda for the times that

[1:33:22] we have hearings and that specific

[1:33:25] item is to reflect specifically on the case. Instead

[1:33:27] of having as just built in and reflection as we needed

[1:33:31] have a specific agenda item that draws us to that

[1:33:33] Now let me ask you this like briefly while we're on the subject

[1:33:36] so do you want to just to be hearing reflections

[1:33:39] I would, I would put it as, um, between L and M on

[1:33:42] the agenda as um

[1:33:45] hearing reflection and that gives us all the in

[1:33:49] real time, the time for us in this moment, it might be

[1:33:51] it might be as simple as simple as. I don't even

[1:33:54] know what I think about this. I'm still sorting through. I cannot

[1:33:56] wait to receive the additional information

[1:34:00] to inform my decision. That might be the extent of it, but

[1:34:02] I think for us to have that space because it might

[1:34:05] be and me saying that Gabrielle

[1:34:08] may say, hey, here's a thing that might

[1:34:10] you might wanna consider looking at in that short run.

[1:34:14] Makes sense. Sounds good to me. All right, we'll add that to next month's meeting

[1:34:18] um, and if there's any from today, we'll allow, you know, 10 minutes depending

[1:34:21] on how much time we have, uh, just to reflect about

[1:34:23] today's hearing, but I think it's a great idea. And obviously if

[1:34:27] the commissioners don't feel comfortable depending on who's in the room

[1:34:29] you're not required to say what your opinion is of the hearing.

[1:34:32] OK. I have a question

[1:34:36] Uh, when will you ask for our

[1:34:39] decision? It's probably, I'm gonna put it in an email, but

[1:34:42] it's probably going to be due by Tuesday. I try to give a couple

[1:34:45] days after everything's due. And in that regard

[1:34:48] last time you asked that everyone

[1:34:50] send it to the group, but not everyone did that

[1:34:53] And so there's also the

[1:34:56] timing of everything. Like if I read, and I, I

[1:34:58] was a teacher for a long time, and I know that

[1:35:01] sometimes students see what someone else wrote, then they write, Oh

[1:35:05] I want to, you know, I want to write like that

[1:35:07] So we're biasing each other when we

[1:35:10] do that, but on the other hand, if not everyone does it

[1:35:12] then we're not seeing what everyone wrote. So if

[1:35:15] we could all do the same thing and have proper

[1:35:18] follow proper instructions that would be helpful, especially

[1:35:21] as a new person in this, in

[1:35:23] this group. Yeah, so Josh just spoke about that briefly

[1:35:26] So there's not a legal requirement that we send it to everybody

[1:35:29] so it's not um it's

[1:35:32] not mandatory that you send it to the remaining

[1:35:34] commissioners, so it's up to you guys. I mean, I can't

[1:35:37] stop you from CCing everybody, but it's only due to me

[1:35:39] going forward. Is that OK All right. OK.

[1:35:43] Next up we're gonna do number 4 on the list, which

[1:35:46] is DeA or DEPA Ghajar.

[1:35:50] uh, Miss Claiborne, you are you are the

[1:35:55] HRC champion, but it doesn't really matter because that case

[1:35:58] was dismissed last time. Uh

[1:36:01] Kaana Champion, which is number 5 on the list

[1:36:04] Miss Simpson was the commissioner of that one

[1:36:07] was dismissed as well. Mr. Chair

[1:36:09] if I may, the on the spreadsheet the ones that

[1:36:12] are highlighted are the ones that are active. OK

[1:36:15] That actually helps me out a lot OK

[1:36:18] Theodora Cruz, uh, there is an update

[1:36:20] related to Theodore Cruz from OS

[1:36:23] or OCS A Maria, do you remember the update

[1:36:26] for that one? Um

[1:36:29] and I'll have to follow up with her

[1:36:31] her.

[1:36:35] I did speak with Alexis about that case. Alexis, uh, is

[1:36:38] not feeling well today, so she's not here. Miss

[1:36:41] Cruise did write back and she responded that she would like to

[1:36:44] move forward with the case. If you remember last

[1:36:47] time we gave her pretty much 30 days, say, hey, if we

[1:36:49] don't hear from you, we're gonna dismiss this matter. She

[1:36:52] wrote back via text message. I think that she's still

[1:36:55] uh, she doesn't have a permanent address

[1:36:58] So based on her text message that she

[1:37:01] wants to continue the case, we could do a couple things

[1:37:03] and I think this is a great time to bring this up. Josh

[1:37:07] and I have been having

[1:37:09] discussions surrounding how our process looks formally

[1:37:12] I don't necessarily think that every case warrants

[1:37:16] a hearing. Uh, we are a body that has a myriad of things

[1:37:18] that we could do from as little as

[1:37:21] you know, dismissing the case, we could send a letter

[1:37:24] an official letter on behalf of the commission, you know, to

[1:37:27] the complainant or to the respondent, uh, with harsh

[1:37:30] language, but we don't have to move forward with the hearing

[1:37:33] for every case. This specific case involved an individual who

[1:37:36] uh does utilize the services of a wheelchair

[1:37:39] She went to In Town Suites and they pretty

[1:37:41] much told her that they didn't have a room, a room

[1:37:44] available for her. Um, if you remember

[1:37:47] that case. whether or not there's discrimination, I don't

[1:37:50] know that's left up to us. We can move forward with the hearing

[1:37:53] if we'd like to. Um

[1:37:56] however, they've been, in terms of the respondent

[1:37:59] pretty responsive in saying, hey we did everything we could to try

[1:38:01] to resolve this. We just didn't have a room left. And she actually

[1:38:04] went to another hotel who could provide a room

[1:38:07] for her. Part of the situation from that case was

[1:38:10] that she went in, they didn't have a room. They said that they there will be

[1:38:13] a period of time, uh, and so she

[1:38:15] checked back and as she stayed there long and she

[1:38:19] had someone to pay for it. There

[1:38:21] they, they were the room became available

[1:38:24] and they did not get it to her

[1:38:26] That's what came up in one of the, one of the points about that. So

[1:38:29] I just want to, to, to lift

[1:38:32] that and so that's where it kind of got a little

[1:38:35] sticky when it was available

[1:38:37] she wasn't given the ability to get into it And she ended up going to

[1:38:41] another place because there was a point when the statement was

[1:38:44] since she was in another place, let's just let it go.

[1:38:47] which was odd to me, but

[1:38:50] that was back some months ago. right.

[1:38:53] Do any of the other commissioners have any thoughts about this

[1:38:56] case moving forward in light of the text message that she wants to

[1:38:59] move forward.

[1:39:05] I believe that we should hear her out if she would like

[1:39:07] if she would like to move forward

[1:39:11] OK. How does that

[1:39:13] so both parties have submitted responses for

[1:39:16] for this case so realistically the next

[1:39:19] steps would be for us. What we've been doing is scheduling

[1:39:22] a hearing as it relates to the case. Do you all

[1:39:25] think that it, it's merits a

[1:39:27] hearing moving forward.

[1:39:31] How would we move forward if we didn't hear her out?

[1:39:36] that she wants to move forward. She wants to appear, I

[1:39:38] guess. Right. So that would be up to us. We could, we could tell

[1:39:41] her to appear to give us additional information. We could

[1:39:44] schedule a hearing, it's not

[1:39:47] really a structured process that we have to follow.

[1:39:52] For me, I guess the question is

[1:39:56] is the respondent uh

[1:40:01] disagreeing with the complainants um

[1:40:05] assessment. If, if they, if they are agreeing with

[1:40:08] it, then I don't think there is necessary

[1:40:12] a hearing necessary. We can make a determination based on that. But if there is a

[1:40:16] if there's a disagreement in

[1:40:18] the position of, you know, like Tony

[1:40:21] said, is, you know, was the room

[1:40:25] offered to her even when she had paid it

[1:40:28] Then, then I think we need to hear, hear

[1:40:30] folks out Tony, do you remember

[1:40:34] the specifics like surrounding it? So, so

[1:40:36] as I mentioned when I got here, I don't have access

[1:40:39] to my computer cause I left it

[1:40:42] at retreat Center 2 hours away

[1:40:45] I'm just remembering what stood out for me

[1:40:48] from that particular case. I'll go through my notes in just a second and see if I

[1:40:51] have something from before, but that's, that's all I

[1:40:54] I remember right away. Is

[1:40:57] us to review the documents again and then make

[1:41:00] a determination on whether we feel like a hearing is necessary

[1:41:03] Absolutely. So what we could do is we can make a motion to move

[1:41:06] this case to the April meeting, provided that uh during that time period we

[1:41:09] reviewed the documents and have the commission vote on how

[1:41:12] to move forward at the April meeting. I make a motion

[1:41:15] Is there a second? All those in

[1:41:19] favor? Aye. Are those opposed? Any abstentions

[1:41:22] All right, we've moved to table that case to the

[1:41:24] April meeting so that the commissioners can review the documents and come

[1:41:28] up with a potential game plan

[1:41:30] Up next is #7 on the master calendar, which

[1:41:33] is Bianca Tucker.

[1:41:36] Commissioner Simpson is the HRC chair. I

[1:41:39] believe letters have been sent out for that hearing. Amario, is that correct?

[1:41:44] Yes. All right, so that's scheduled for the

[1:41:46] May date. And Alexis was the one that

[1:41:49] sent those out. Perfect.

Human Relations Commission

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