BUILDING TORN DOWN WITHOUT COMMISSIONERS VOTE

Its not uncommon to remove or rennovate buildings,in fact,City Manager Dennis Rubin says thats part of his job. He received a request to remove an empty building in front of the Cultural Arts Center to make more room for parking. As a result, the building was removed last week. Sounds reasonable, except theres only one problem. The builidng was torn down before commissioners voted. The building was on city property and because of this, commissioners are suppose to meet before any action is taken. "In this particular case the building was run down, outdated and very small. It sat in the parking lot of South East Alabama Performing Arts and will become part of their parking lot," says Rubin. J.E. Saliba is President of the Cultural Arts Center and says the building was, "not used in a long time, it was dangerous and of no use to anyone,". Commissioners did not meet last week to discuss the issue because several members were out of town. Rubin says the they went ahead and removed the building because it was next on the agenda. The Public Works Department receives a list of items that I ask them to work on and that was the next logical building," says Rubin. The decision to go ahead and take action has made some people mad. Mayor Chester Sowell said one specific commissioner questioned Rubin and the issue in Tuesday`s City Commission meeting. "He questioned why the building was torn down and said the commission has to make those decisions...and hes right," says Sowell. Rubin takes full responsibility for his decision and says he was only trying to do his job. "Were in that business to remove buildings this was in that vain and effort," says Rubin. Sowell apologizes about the building being removed and says,"There will be some other discussion amongst the commission,". JANA JACOBS-REPORTER WDHN 18