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As our long, neighborhood nightmare of streetscaping comes to an end—and in the monstrous, aching desire to find something other than that about which to fulminate—this column launches a mini-series about the Great Rift between what are now two, count ‘em, two legitimately credentialed area merchants’ associations.

By Don McCallister

By James D. McCallister

As our long, neighborhood nightmare of streetscaping comes to an end—and in the monstrous, aching desire to find something other than that about which to fulminate—this column launches a mini-series about the Great Rift between what are now two, count ‘em, two legitimately credentialed area merchants’ associations: The establishment (in the form of the Five Points Association) juxtaposed against the upstart, underdog team, christened in a charmingly proprietary fashion as Our Five Points.

Now, we here at the Five Points Confidential desk know what some of you are thinking: The writer himself has been—and is once again—the occupier of a seat around the table of that Skull & Bones of neighborhood politics, the alternately revered and reviled FPA Board of Directors. (I could herein make a Groucho Marx joke about clubs that tolerate questionable members, but I’ll let you all just think it for me instead.) Yea, verily, I say, let all such questions be answered and accompanying fears allayed: in the modern journalistic tradition, I’m going to present both sides and give the organizations’ spokespeople the unvarnished space to make the case. So there—fair and balanced.

To begin, then, with the so-called dissidents, led by Randy Dennis of 2 G’s Clothing, a fixture on Saluda Avenue for ten years running. Dennis has been around the neighborhood in some form, however, for over twenty-five years, so he’s got a good memory regarding the ins and outs of Five Points advocacy on the part of the Association.

A former FPA member himself, Dennis has since become known as the very public voice of dissent here in Five Points. He was instrumental in the formation of Our Five Points, stoked in large part due to the Parking Meters Imbroglio, a neighborhood tête-à-tête about which epic poems and song-cycles will one day be written.

The merchant became disillusioned when he became aware that the addition of meters was planned as part of the streetscaping.

“I called Debbie Parker (former FPA Executive Director and spokesperson) and asked her if meters were coming in, and she said ‘no, that’s just a rumor,’” Dennis said.

Despite Parker’s denial, the meters began popping up like unwanted weeds anyway, and Dennis began looking into the process of how the decision was made. A bombshell came when he discovered documents that put Parker at ground zero in the series of meetings that were held regarding recommendations about the meters.

“So she knew all along they (the meters) were coming, but flat-out lied to me, an association member, when I called to find out the truth. That was upsetting.”

He further claims that the issue was never discussed at general FPA membership meetings. Does ‘not discussed’ mean the same thing as ‘kept quiet?’

“Yes,” Dennis replied. When asked why, he speculated, “I think because only a very, very few powerful merchants wanted the meters, and knew that the rest of us would be against them.”

Aside from his own feelings about the efficacy of parking meters in facilitating customer and merchant interactions—he still receives complaints “daily” about the green bandits, and takes it upon himself to feed meters for customers—Dennis felt betrayed, perhaps understandably so, by the FPA and its representatives, elected and otherwise.

“It had just come to feel like decisions were being made about things behind closed doors no matter what the general membership thought.”

To underscore the contention, Randy Dennis took it upon himself to do his own survey of area merchants, and in doing so discovered that the vast majority—this writer included—were against the installation of the meters.

“The survey just confirmed to me that people weren’t being heard on various issues. So a few of us decided to band together to pursue our own projects.”

Our Five Points, while not quite as structured as the FPA, does have a charter and is registered as a non-profit 501c. In addition, the group has recently made its first applications for hospitality tax monies in order to fund a variety of retail promotions.

Even though there is a changing of the guard at the FPA, with six-term president Dennis Hiltner now replaced by Duncan McRae of Yesterday’s, Randy Dennis feels that the new organization will still be better suited to the promotion of retail shopping.

“What we want to do is work on projects that they (the FPA) don’t seem to be interested in.” And here’s hoping they succeed: whatever the nature of the various disputes at issue, Dennis’s general intentions are in the right place.

“We never started this to hurt the Five Points Association,” he emphasizes. “The bottom line is that we want what’s best for everybody to be successful.” Here is wisdom, true believers.

Next time: The Old Guard gets their say, including the much-maligned spinmistress, FPA spokesperson Merritt Brewer. Stay tuned.

James D. McCallister is the co-owner of Loose Lucy’s, and also writes stuff: His novel King’s Highway will be published in June by Columbia’s own Red Letter Press.