\n<\/span><\/p>\nBefore Schewel could move to the \u201cpriority items\u201d on the agenda, residents and supporters erupted, shouting that the mayor should change the agenda.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cThey\u2019re eating like peasants!\u201d one yelled.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cY\u2019all let us eat macaroni and cheese cups every day,\u201d McDougald Terrace Resident Council President Ashley Canady yelled as she stormed toward the exit. \u201cWe tired, we fed up, and we are tired.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nAfter residents left the meeting room in a rage, Schewel requested that the glass doors separating the council chambers from a lobby be closed. The mayor then pushed on with the meeting. <\/span> \n<\/span> \n<\/span>Residents circled Canady in the lobby, while local news cameras recorded. \u201cYou think we want to live like this? We don\u2019t want this, we didn\u2019t pick this,\u201d she yelled.<\/span><\/p>\nWhen Canady broke down into loud sobs, a small group of women comforted her. Young boys and girls ran restlessly around the lobby and other residents shouted at council members through the doors. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI should be able to cook a home cooked meal for my son,\u201d McDougald Terrace resident Shimey Harvey said, choking back tears.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nEven if Harvey had access to a stove rather than the microwave in the motel that she and her son have been temporarily relocated to, the food stipend provided by the DHA isn\u2019t enough, she said, and everyday tasks have become so much harder.<\/span><\/p>\nFor Harvey, that means calling in a favor from her friend who works as an Uber driver to take her son to school. She then uses part of her food stipend to cover the cost of gas of picking him up at the McDougald Terrace bus stop at the end of the day and driving him back to the motel.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cThat\u2019s where my little money that they give us goes to. Gas and fast food,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nCanady\u2019s sobs did not last long. Soon she was leading chants in the lobby. \u201cEnough is enough,\u201d residents and their supporters yelled, raising their fists.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cOur babies living in hotels, while you fly your ass to Costa Rica,\u201d one protestor cried.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAfter a vote to alter outdoor lighting rules about an hour into the meeting, Schewel relented.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019m going to reverse my previous decision. I thought that a meeting afterwards would be suitable to have a good discussion with folks but apparently, they don\u2019t think so,\u201d the mayor said before inviting McDougald residents and protestors back.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nEach was given two minutes to speak, the standard time for public comments during Council meetings. Some residents used the opportunity to complain about their children\u2019s lack of access to healthy food. Others focused on their children\u2019s inability to be active inside the hotels.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cMy kids keep thinking we\u2019re going home, then they hear that we have more weeks to be in a hotel? I\u2019m tired of it, my kids are tired of it,\u201d one mother said, adding she\u2019s fearful her family will get \u201cput out\u201d if their playing disturbs others.<\/span><\/p>\nThe mental health of children and their parents should be a primary concern, resident Laura Betye said. \u201cWe have an emergency situation on our hands,\u201d she told Council members. \u201cWe desperately need mental health counseling.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nSome who had visited their McDougald Terrace apartments said they were disappointed with the lack of renovation progress. \u201cI have holes in my walls, mold. How can you say you\u2019re gonna fix something and you\u2019re not even gonna fix the foundation?,\u201d one woman said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAfter listening, Schewel spoke. \u201cI can really appreciate that this uncertainty is really difficult to live with. I understand that and I really feel for each of you all who are in that situation, that\u2019s a terrible situation,\u201d he said.<\/span> \n<\/span> \n<\/span>Schewel then thanked the residents. \u201cI appreciate you all being here\u2026 and appreciate your patience, and appreciate your sense of urgency as well,\u201d\u00a0 he said. <\/span> \n<\/span> \n<\/span>During her time on the podium, Canady made it clear that she is out of patience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cIf I have to disrupt every city function, every county function, I want all the smoke. I want it,\u201d she said. \u201cBecause if they disrupt our lives, we about to disrupt theirs.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On paper, the agenda for Tuesday night\u2019s City Council meeting seemed to do a lot of good. Sister Cities of Durham, a non-profit connecting Durham…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1764,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[99,104,123,191,223],"class_list":["post-1752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-government","tag-durham","tag-durham-city-council","tag-durham-public-housing-authority","tag-mcdougald-terrace","tag-public-health","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n
Displaced McDougald Terrace residents make City Council members listen - 9th Street Journal<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n