WCHL reports that mall manager Nathan Millian attempted to throw Cindy Sheehan off Carr Mill property when she was meeting with Mark Chilton and impeachment activists yesterday. Eventually Shehan was allowed to stay at Panzanella. Here is the MP3.
Regardless how you feel about Ms. Sheehan's politics, is this any way to treat a nationally-known guest? It's certainly no way to treat anyone else.
What motivates Nathan Millian to butt heads with a Mayor's lunch guest? I don't buy the disruption of business argument. Ms. Sheehan brought a lot of free publicity to Carr Mill and the Town of Carrboro. Why did Mr. Millian squander it by being so rude?
Issues:
Comments
Nathan seems to be working
Nathan seems to be working hard to become the personal counter-balance to all that is great about Carrboro. I just can't understand what makes him act like that. (People should listen to the MP3 audio.)
More than likely, he caused
More than likely, he caused much more fuss by trying to have Sheehan remove the cross (which is no more than 18 inches long and bears the name of her dead son -- stay classy, Mr. Millian!), and threatening to escort her off the property. Had he left it alone and waited until there actually was a disruption to commerce, he might have been pleasantly surprised to find out that there was none. And if there was a disruption, few would have begrudged him taking action.
To be clear: preemptive action is a statement.
Does this remind anyone of
Does this remind anyone of the security guard in just about every movie that has a "studio lot" in it? You know, the self-important guy that keeps the star of the movie from getting into the lot?
Or, better yet, the hall monitor. The "hall monitor" is always some kid that no one else likes who tries to use his "authority" to beat someone down. I think we all know how that story ends.
Or maybe, it's that old
Or maybe, it's that old truth, "Fear makes cowards out of most of us!"
Here's a picture of the
Here's a picture of the cross. After Panzanera she walked right by WSM with her small entourage.
As far as blocking things, the majority of folks in this picture are press folks. The supposed concerned "blockage" was adjacent to Elmos on the brickyard between it and CVS.
Sounds like we need a
Sounds like we need a Millian Man March and march his sorry, whining ass out of town.
I am sure everyone would be
I am sure everyone would be high fiving each other if he had run off Rush Limbaugh and company instead. It has nothing to do with the rights of property owners, after all.
Oh jeez...I wasn't going to
Oh jeez...I wasn't going to make a fuss of this, but it just seems like interesting timing. At The Peoples Channel, we often have volunteers who are interested in learning video production, go out into the public and provide "soap box" opportunities to folks. Providing soap box opportunities are required in our performance agreement with The Town of Chapel Hill. Soap box opportunities, for those of you not familiar with the concept, gives the ability for the public to speak on channel 8, without having to go through formal training.
So, I have three summer interns, two visiting for the month from Mississippi (very cool organization, by the way Sunflower County Freedom Project (http://www.sunflowerfreedom.org/)) and another from Piedmont Community college. So, we sent these young men off to Weaver St. to get the opinions of the public on three issues: Public transportation, the moving of Weaver St. operations, and parking downtown.
They were set up and working for about 15 minutes before management came out and asked what the youth were doing. They said they were filming a soap box piece for The Peoples Channel, and explained what they were asking people. Management informed them that they had to fill out a form, to be reviewed by Weaver Street, and then, maybe, they could film.
I have sent volunteers to the lawn of the Weave at least three times since I've been at TPC, and never had any problems. Kat Moleski (sp?) called back after I left a message, and she spoke with my co-worker and informed him that we had to call in advance if we're going to film, and that those were new policies since the dancing debacle...I'm using my own words here.
I heard there were press at Cindy's event yesterday...I wonder if they had called ahead and filled out the proper form? Anyway...just felt to me that promoting community through media and promoting community dialog didn't exactly go against the Weaver St. philosophy...but...what do I know...
And I don't mean to knock the Weave...I'm a member, and I shop and eat there and they have always been very supportive of The Peoples Channel. I assume that these are policies handed down by management.
Will, those photo links
Will, those photo links aren't working. I'd love to see them.
Sorry, try this:
Sorry, try this: http://picasaweb.google.com/CitizenWill.0/Sheehan
I switched over to Google from Flickr because Flickr started limiting free usage. It appears that you can't simply link to the snapshots.
Chad, considering that I
Chad, considering that I produced some of that "dancing man" video using a simple digital camera (and Brian did using his phone I believe) what can Carr Mill really do to limit this activity?
I've seen malls that strictly prohibit photography of any kind though the legality of limiting it seems in question (for instance, Southpoint has a bazillion cameras scanning their mall, only seems fair that the public can scan back ;-) )
why doesnt nathan leave
why doesnt nathan leave people alone and raise some money so people with disabilities can get into carr mill mall
jmk, Millian revealed beyond
jmk,
Millian revealed beyond doubt that this is not property rights or protecting the tenants - it's his contribution to culture war. There was absolutely no reason for him to interefere with Sheehan.
I'm late but I wanted to
I'm late but I wanted to chime in: what a dickhead.
There reaches a point where
There reaches a point where perhaps a "Fire Millian" movement makes sense. It's my understanding that the mall owners have another project in Carrboro and they'd probably be sensitive to a significant effort to replace this guy...
I agree, David! Perhaps we
I agree, David! Perhaps we should write letters to the mall owner expressing our frustration with Nathan's negative impact on their property and the community. Shall we start a new thread with ideas?
I realize that I am very
I realize that I am very late to this thread but wanted to add my two cents since I was there and had several encounters with Nathan during the luncheon for Ms. Sheehan.
My first encounter concerned impeachment t- shirts that I was giving away just prior to the luncheon. Nathan was quite rude as I attempted to determine the limits of his authority (in a very respectful manner,I might add). He was also quite disrepectful to an elderly lady who admonished him for treating her rudely on the phone earlier that morning.
Once I determined that t-shirts could be given out in the restaurant with the manager's permission, I proceeded to do so.
My second encounter with Nathan occured as I was retrieving additional shirts from the back of my car which was parked in front of the restaurant. Nathan accosted me demanding that I move my car because I was not a customer. Quite the contrary, I was paying the tab for Ms. Sheehan and 30 members of the party,and I informed Nathan that not only was I a customer, I was THE customer of the restaurant. It mattered little as Nathan, with cop in tow, followed me shouting "get out of here...this is private property..."
With regard to jmk's concern about the property owners, let me assure everyone that I worked closely with the restaurant manager and staff to insure that our party was not disruptive. The manager voiced some concern about the press but was very complimentary and supportive of our group. And since the event was quite contained to the area around and inside the restaurant, I sincerely doubt that other stores were harmed.
I have no particular desire to have Nathan fired, but I will say he needs to work on his people skills. At this point I believe he presents a very poor reflection on Car Mill proprietors.