FLORENCE, S.C. (WPDE) — A Florence city councilman said he’s sick and tired of people trying to block or complain about the good things they’re doing in the North Florence community, especially when it comes to affordable housing.
Florence city councilman Chaquez McCall spoke out this week during a council meeting following the public participation part of the meeting.
McCall expressed his thoughts on the city’s efforts to help revitalize North Florence.
McCall says they’re trying to work with the Florence Housing Authority to provide more affordable homes for families on the northside of town.
The city has built several homes in recent years in underdeveloped communities in an effort to steer growth in those areas.
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“I’m sick and tired of it at this point. Politics is politics. Play politics. But when you’re dealing with people’s lives, I don’t have time for it. We have an affordability problem, not in this city, not in the state, but in this country. We’re talking about trying to put low-income, affordable housing back in North Florence. And every time we try to put something on that side of town, it’s always people who come and try to stop it. Even if she recuses herself, it still would pass. And we know that this is here for political purposes, and it’s trying to slow something down that’s for the benefit of people. I’ve known this council for five years, and I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired of trying to help people out, and it’s always the same political nonsense. This is for affordable housing in North Florence. Every time affordable housing projects come up, it’s always some people trying to kill it every time. And I’m just sick and tired of it. It’s is it’s making me visibly upset about it.
And I’m from here on out, the people need to know. All right. The people need to know that people are trying to kill projects on the north side of town. Every time it comes up, they can say, ‘Oh, we want to put bathrooms there. We want to put this.’ This here is something that’s going to benefit the city. It’s going to benefit the north side of town. And I am proud to partner with the housing authority to get something there because if not, you want to have an abandoned, dilapidated building that has been sitting there since I was a child. Now, we finally got some action to get it done. And now, here we go again with this political jargon. I’m sick and tired of it. Madame Mayor, if you were to recuse yourself, I’d vote for it again. Simple as that. But other than that, I’m just sick and tired of that. “
The woman McCall spoke after, addressing the council during public participation, said she wasn’t talking about efforts to help North Florence.
She couldn’t elaborate further because her allotted time of five minutes to speak had run out.
