Thread by @RealSpikeCohen

Russell Convalescent Home is a small 50 year old nursing home whose residents have lived there for as long as 20 years. RCH's motto is "Welcome To Our Home".

The local government plans to destroy it to build a parking lot. You'll be (probably not very) shocked to find out why.

Russell, Kentucky, is the home of RCH, a small, privately owned and operated 28 bed facility that houses and cares for mentally disabled folks. The staff and residents have been together for so long that they see themselves as a family.

For many of the residents, this is the only family they have, and they would have nowhere to go if it were forced to close.

Many more would be dispersed far and wide to other facilities around Kentucky.

RCH isn't just a business, it's a home.

Back in May, the City of Russell's Council and Mayor voted unanimously to use eminent domain to seize the facility, demolish it, and turn it into a parking lot, in the name of “city beautification".

To add insult to injury, RCH learned about by reading about it in the news.

Imagine for a moment if your local government were currently in the process of kicking you out of your home and paving it, and didn't even bother to notify you.

When @lpky Vice Chair James Toller found out, he attempted to go to a City meeting to talk about it, and was barred from doing so. To be fair, if you were trying to steal a retirement home to put up a parking lot, you probably wouldn't want people to talk about it either.

RCH is a Personal Care Home, which costs much less than the newer, much more expensive homes that are more common now. Residents who can't afford the expensive homes will be scattered across the state to low-cost facilities, tearing apart the family and community they've built.

Now, it's not all bad news.

Thankfully, this new parking lot is expected to be a great development for a few local businesses, such as The Nest Day Spa, which is owned by Russell City Attorney Tracy Frye.

The Nest opened a couple months after the plan to pave RCH was announced.

Now, far be it from me to suggest any foul play by Attorney Frye, or the Russell City Government.

It is very possible, likely even, that Attorney Frye's new business, and her active involvement in the eminent domain action against RCH, have nothing to do with one another.

At any rate, we are trying to save RCH, and you can help!

Here the names and contact information of the Russell Mayor and City Council members.

I ask that everyone contact them and RESPECTFULLY explain why you believe this eminent domain use should be reconsidered.

MAYOR

Samuel R. Simpson
606-836-9666
[e-mail]

CITY COUNCIL

Clyde W. "Butch" Meadows
606-922-2082
[e-mail]

Roy Parsons
606-836-1660
[e-mail]

Alice Kay Thompson
606-922-6344
[e-mail]

(Continued in next tweet)

Esther "Sissy" Shaffer
606-836-6530
[e-mail]

Ryan Bierderman
606-836-9666 (City building)
NO EMAIL LISTED

Vincenzo Fressola
606-836-9666 (City building)
NO EMAIL LISTED

Thank you for your help. Together we can save Russell Convalescent Home!