NATCHEZ, Miss. –The mayor and aldermen began taking stronger steps Monday against blighted properties in honor of Lee Nelson, the man who collapsed and died last week as he presented city officials his concerns about dilapidated houses and overgrown yards in his Daisy Street neighborhood.
In action Mayor Dan Gibson said was inspired by Nelson, the Board of Aldermen voted last night to sue the owners of 26 properties that have long been classified as public nuisances because of the poor conditions of their structures and yards.
At last Wednesday’s meeting of the mayor and aldermen, Nelson said he was “sick and tired of being sick and tired” – quoting 1960s civil-rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer – about the city’s lack of progress in cleaning up blighted properties and finishing street work in his neighborhood. Minutes later, the 70-year-old Nelsonsuddenly crumpled to the floor ashe presented photographs of deteriorated houses and unkempt yards. Natchez Fire Chief Robert Arrington immediately tried to revive him, but Nelson died.
“He was dedicated to what he wanted done. He was a community-minded person,” said Alderman Billie Joe Frazier, who grew up with Nelson.
Gibsonpraised Nelson’s “passion for Natchez” as the mayor and city board move forward in “doing all we can to address Mr. Nelson’s concerns” and “to make a better Natchez.”
Nelson was born in Natchez in 1950, graduated from Sadie V. Thompson High School in 1969, served in the U.S. Army, worked in Chicago and then returned to Natchez in 2008, according to the obituary Gibson read aloud in tribute to Nelson at Monday’s meeting of the mayor and aldermen. Survivors include his wife and daughter, who attended yesterday’s meeting.
In taking court action to address the 26 nuisance properties, aldermen voted to hire attorney Tim Cotton to file civil charges against the property owners, who have long ignored city directives to repair or clean up their structures and lots. Gibson said they’re the most derelict of about 250 such properties in Natchez.
Nelson last week also pointed to the $2 million initiative the mayor and aldermen are undertaking to upgrade municipal parks and streets. As a further tribute to him, Gibson and aldermen on Monday unveiled the architectural rendering of what a restored North Natchez Park Youth Center will look like.
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