A government of the people, by the people and for the people. Columbia City Council is no exception.
Yet by voting in favor of rezoning the Regency Mobile Home Park to make way for luxurious student apartment complexes, City Council abandoned its most primary function: to serve the people of Columbia.
It’s obvious the citizens of the mobile park are opposed to being forced out of their homes to make room for a new addition to an already saturated student housing market. The students aren’t in favor of it either. Students have petitioned on behalf of the Regency community and student organizations such as Missouri Students Association, Legion of Black Collegians, Four Front and Residence Halls Association have signed legislation stating students are not in support of the rezoning.
City Council’s reasoning for voting in favor of the rezoning, that the decision was made for the benefit of students, is preposterous. It’s not reasoning, it’s an excuse. It’s an excuse for allowing the profit-driven interests of a company, which isn’t even a local one, to override the will of the people.
It’s not very likely that students will even choose to live in the new apartments. There are already an overabundance of apartment complexes in the area, the majority of which are much closer to campus than this new development will be.
It might seem that students “like” Aspen Heights, according to a Facebook page the company made, and support its heinous decision to uproot an entire community, but the company did offer money in reward. The company campaigned within the Greek Life community and offered a cash prize to the chapter that got the company’s Facebook page the most likes and electronic signatures in support of the rezoning. Some students asked to sign it didn’t see what the petition was in support of and were more concerned about getting money for their philanthropy. Whatever support from students Aspen Heights saw was not real.
City Council wouldn’t be aware of some students’ dissent, considering it chose to host a meeting on the rezoning over Thanksgiving break, when most students couldn’t attend.
It’s understandable that Aspen Heights wants to make money, but it’s incomprehensible that City Council doesn’t seem to want to serve the people of Columbia — people who have jobs, families and livelihoods that are a part of the Columbia community.
Where the government fails, it is up to the people. We’re students who have a sense of moral duty where City Council doesn’t. Students need to keep speaking up to make it known that we do not support this terrible decision. Petitions and marches are all effective, but above all, students should not, even if they have the means, decide to live in this apartment complex. Students who do live there will have to live with the guilt of knowing a community once existed there — a community forsaken by the City Council that was supposed to protect it.