If you’re an MU student, you might not know that you probably reside in or go to school in the First Ward, an area of Columbia that encompasses campus, downtown and part of Business Loop 70. The First Ward has seen some interesting legislation and catfights over the past 10 months — from Ginny Chadwick’s [recall campaign (and subsequent resignation)](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2015/1/7/chadwick-resigns-allow-special-election-april/) and [Tobacco 21](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2014/12/16/city-council-passes-tobacco-21/) to the death of the [medical marijuana bill](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2014/10/22/council-votes-no-on-marijuana/) and the [free-for-all council election](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2015/4/8/first-second-and-sixth-ward-elections-bring-fresh-/).
Chadwick, an MU graduate student, gained enemies after voting against the decriminalization of marijuana, voting for the Opus Group’s development downtown, proposing to ban alcohol in Douglass Park and sponsoring a bill to raise the legal age for tobacco to 21 within city limits.
In October, a bill that allowed chronically ill Columbians to grow one or two pot plants with a doctor’s letter, and decriminalized possession of up to 35 grams within city limits, was shot down by City Council.
During her campaign, Chadwick had supported decriminalizing medical marijuana, but in the middle of hearings over the ordinance, she withdrew her support. She said that during her campaign she supported the theory of decriminalization, but she did not think all the implications of this bill had been thought through. Advocates for medical marijuana felt betrayed by her switch, and rumblings of a recall campaign began.
In December, Chadwick and Tobacco Free Missouri sponsored a bill to raise the legal age to purchase tobacco to 21. Proponents thought it would lower the rates of teen and young adult addiction; opponents viewed it as an assault on individual freedoms and local small businesses. Tobacco 21 [passed Dec. 15](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2014/12/16/city-council-passes-tobacco-21/).
But the biggest clusterfudge in the First Ward in 2014 was … Opus. A tangle of legislation, jargon, money and really angry residents that played out like a seven-season drama. [Seriously](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2014/3/18/housing-developments-debated-city-council/), [the](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2014/3/24/student-housing-coming-downtown-after-agreements-c/) [drama](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2014/4/2/residents-petition-against-development-agreement/) [involved](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2014/4/16/collegiate-housing-partners-begins-construction-op/) [was](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2014/4/30/second-agreement-proposed-Opus-group/) [really](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2014/6/4/petition-circulates-to-repeal-new-opus-development/), [really](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2014/8/27/city-council-repeals-opus-project/), [really](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2014/9/17/protest-opus-vows-to-block-student-housing/) [ridiculous](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2014/11/5/opus-todd-on-schedule/).
Beginning in February 2014, the Opus Group proposed a student housing development, despite lack of adequate infrastructure, and were told the development couldn’t move forward. In March, agreements were proposed for the proposed housing developments to fund part of the infrastructure repairs.
As spring went on, residents, who felt left out by the quick approval, began one petition, while Chadwick created a new agreement with Opus that addressed infrastructure issues. The new agreement passed, and residents began a repeal campaign that dragged through the summer. The agreement was repealed by the council, which then passed a third agreement.
Petitioners, city lawyers, and Opus lawyers then began an acrimonious legal battle that lasted throughout the fall, involving circuit and federal courts. Opus broke ground Sept. 15, and its development, District Flats, on Seventh and Locust streets is slated to open in fall 2015.
I don’t even understand what I just wrote. The whole process was long, drawn out and, mainly, unwanted. These issues also led to the loss of First Ward residents’ trust in Chadwick. Her subsequent flip-flops on medical marijuana and Tobacco 21 were seen as just more cases of her looking out for powerful interests and rejecting local interests, which led to a crowded First Ward race all hoping to remedy the lack of trust.
It remains to be seen whether Opus will be just one more “brat castle,” as First Ward council candidate Sal Nuccio phrased it, or a good addition to downtown that will lower steep housing costs. However, Columbia residents are unlikely to forget how many headlines they saw about the development over the past year.
