MauryTHINKS

Note: Originally published in the Columbia Daily Herald, reprinted by permission

As a former reporter and news editor for The Daily Herald, I was deeply dismayed to see the factual and contextual errors in the story “Citizens Fight Health Facility.”

Your writers, D. Frank Smith and John Henson, did not do the most basic fact-checking in preparing their story. The resident who filed suit against Centerstone is Marie Voss, not Mary Voss as reported, and the house in question is located at 1000 Rolling Fields Circle. There is no 1001 Rolling Fields Circle. The more serious errors, though, concern the use of quotations and terminology.

First, I was quoted as saying “They are not welcome here,” but the reporters conveniently omitted the antecedent to which “they” referred. “They” are Centerstone, NOT the mentally disabled. That comment was made in an explanation of my conversations with Centerstone officials in Nashville. Several months ago I spoke with Chris Blount, who works in Nashville, at length about my concerns that a health care business was going to be setting up shop across the street. I explained to her at that time that Centerstone was not welcome in Rolling Fields and that we would do everything in our power to prevent them from setting up a treatment facility there. At that time, we had not even been told what type of treatment center was planned.

As homeowners and parents, we are opposed to any business in a neighborhood that is zoned residential. This is not the first time that Rolling Fields residents have fought the use of residential properties as businesses. If your reporters had done any investigating at all, they would have found that residents also opposed the use of 1217 Trotwood Avenue as the offices for L.D. Hill and Sons Auctioneers. For whatever reason, that fight wasn’t given much coverage. Perhaps suggesting that we are trying to discriminate against Realtors and auctioneers wouldn’t have been as juicy. I don’t know. I spoke with Mr. Smith for several minutes at the rally on Thursday and explained my concerns for the radical change in the use of that property and what it would do the neighborhood overall, as well as the potential risk that a constant influx of residents and additional traffic would pose to the children that live in the immediate area. At no time did I say that I didn’t want to live across the street from someone who is mentally disabled, nor suggest that I was in favor of some sort of discrimination against them.

Second, Centerstone, to our knowledge, is not planning to use the house as a “home for the mentally disabled.” I am at a loss as to how the reporter managed to get that phrase wrong. More than one speaker made that abundantly clear at the rally and at no time has anyone from Centerstone ever suggested that the house would be used for that purpose. According to Centerstone, the house will be used as a residential treatment facility for patients suffering from forms of mental illness. There is a difference in mentally disabled and mentally ill, both in definition and connotation.

It is this use of the house that causes concern. I wouldn’t want McDonald’s or Maury Regional Hospital or Walgreen’s across the street, either. That doesn’t make it personal against their “consumers” (Centerstone’s terminology). This opposition from the residents is about Centerstone’s intention to use the house as a treatment facility and the fact that the city of Columbia claims to be powerless to stop them. This is about a homeowner’s right to an expectation that the zoning ordinances which were in place when a house was purchased would not be violated in such a manner that allows for no recourse. Centerstone did not have to request a zoning change, they did not have to file any permits with the city and they did not inform the neighborhood of their intentions prior to the purchase. According to their interpretation of state law, they answer to no one at the local level and have permission from the state to establish a treatment facility as they see fit.

Rolling Fields is not a neighborhood of rich people as some would have you believe. We are middle-class citizens who chose to live here because of the character of the neighborhood. Many have lived here for 20 years or more. There are rental houses mixed in with owner-occupied homes and homes in a wide variety of pride ranges. There is an assumption on the part of some that we are elitist wealthy people who are whining, “Not in my back yard,” which could not be further from the truth. We are not trying to discriminate against the mentally ill, nor criticizing Centerstone for providing the services it does. We simply question the wisdom of choosing the main corner of Rolling Fields for use as a treatment center of any sort and we encourage homeowners in other neighborhoods to take note. If we sit back and watch as the city of Columbia allows this house to be used as a treatment center of any sort, then Centerstone may be putting a halfway house next door to your house next. According to them, they have that right and no one seems interested in telling them no, except Marie Voss, a widow whose home, which is less than 25 feet from the proposed facility, is in jeopardy of being rendered unmarketable. We will continue to support her in that effort.

Kim Woody,

Columbia