Public commenters urge toll-waiver for hit-and-runs and press council on New Community housing conditions after deferral

During the pre-meeting’s public-comment period, residents raised two separate concerns: a request for toll-fee waivers for hit-and-run victims and reports about housing conditions in New Community developments whose tax-abatement item was deferred.

Dolores Black described involvement in a recent hit-and-run and asked the council to consider an ordinance to waive toll fees for victims of hit-and-run crashes, saying she could not afford the roughly $400 fee while the investigation is pending. She said current auto-squad fee-waiver rules cover vehicle theft but not hit-and-run victims and urged the council to consider expanding waivers.

Separately, George Tillman Jr. and other public speakers criticized the planned tax abatement for New Community Homes Development LP after the council deferred the item. Tillman said he had visited residents in the affected buildings and described conditions he attributed to the developer’s neglect, including pervasive rodent infestations and an elevator that had been out of service for about a year, forcing residents to carry a wheelchair user up three flights of stairs. He urged the council to send the matter back to the administration rather than advance the abatement.

Other public commenters at the meeting made broad budget and governance criticisms; one speaker asked for accountability for alleged misused funds and criticized the city’s fiscal management. Another resident described receiving multiple notices of alleged back rent and sought help from council staff.

The council closed public speaking at the end of the allotted time; the record shows the New Community abatement remained deferred and that residents planned to testify during the public hearing on the item at the next meeting.