Let’s be clear, this is not a victory for the descendants of the people who were buried in the former St. Matthews Baptist Church Cemetery, and whose graves were nearly erased. This settlement might be a small step in the right direction, but it is one that the City and the CRA fought against for many years. The only reason we have this settlement is that FrankCrum took the City and the CRA to court.

Instead of doing the right thing and taking responsibility for this situation, the City and the CRA have spent untold taxpayer dollars on litigation and delaying tactics. The CRA even argued that the City’s warranty against there being graves on the property had somehow expired.

FrankCrum agreed to this settlement because we believe the city would continue to delay and deny responsibility for this problem. Even if we won in a jury trial, which we expected to do, we knew the City would appeal and contest this for as long as possible.

Because the City’s leadership refuses to lead, it will be up to our community to come up with a solution. So, in the months ahead, FrankCrum will be working with responsible members of the community to help develop a structured, transparent, and fair process for how we move forward. We don’t have the answers yet, but we will keep you informed.