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Resident says 2023 demolition agreement not signed, urges Highland Park Council for clarity
Summary
A Highland Park resident told the City Council during public comment that a June 20, 2023 conditional memorandum of understanding to permit demolition and sale of lots for $250 was never signed and promised workshops did not occur; council members and staff acknowledged confusion about meeting logistics.
A Highland Park resident told the Highland Park City Council during public comment that a conditional memorandum of understanding (MOU) from June 20, 2023 that the resident said authorized demolition of houses and the sale of resulting lots for $250 was never signed and that promised follow-up workshops were not held.
The claim matters, the resident said, because the earlier agreement — described in the meeting as between the council and an entity the resident identified as “the My Bank” — would permit demolition of houses and transfer of lots back to the city. The resident said the council had agreed to a conditional deal on June 20, 2023 but that the MOU was not executed and that council members did not meet afterward as promised.
The resident said, "they wanted us to agree to was to let them tear the houses down, and then we sell them the lots for $250." The resident said she never saw the current MOU and has been requesting it since 2023. She added that the city promised workshops and that the promised follow-up did not take place: "The president promised that we were gonna have workshops. We didn't." The resident also said she would send the agreement to council members and post it on Facebook.
Council members and staff addressed separate procedural issues during the meeting. Council Pro Tem said she was "communicating with [the clerk] now" and acknowledged confusion about the meeting time: "there was a little confusion between 5PM and 6PM. So she should be getting on in a second." The meeting included brief back-and-forth about whether the clerk was online and whether some elected officials were present or running late.
Speakers in the record described the matter as involving a past conditional agreement and an unsigned MOU; no executed agreement or signed MOU was produced on the record during the public comment shown in the transcript. The council did not take a formal vote on the MOU during the portion of the meeting captured in the transcript.
The resident named individuals and roles in describing the history: Anthony Cartwright (mentioned as not attending), Commissioner Martha Scott (mentioned as invited to the 2023 discussion) and the mayor (referenced as speaking publicly about demolition). The resident also said personal items were removed from a property after demolition activity and questioned who signed any agreement on the council's behalf.
The council did not resolve the factual questions on the record during the portion of the meeting captured here. The resident said she has requested the MOU since 2023 and will distribute the document publicly; council staff and members acknowledged logistical confusion about the meeting start and the clerk’s online attendance.
No formal action, motion, or vote on an MOU or demolition authorization appears in the transcript segments reviewed. The resident’s statements and the council’s procedural remarks were confined to public comment and logistics during the meeting.
