What Citizens Alliance Was For, Against

To the Editor:

Mayor Janet Moerbe for the City of La Grange crossed the line in her Council Report and radio address on Monday, May 17, when she referenced the Hope Hill Subdivision and the role played by the La Grange Citizens Alliance. In her address, she stated the following:

“Samaritan’s Purse (SP), a Christian charity based in North Carolina, came to La Grange following Hurricane Harvey and provided not only funds for the purchase of the land known as Hope Hill but also came here to organize volunteers to complete twenty mortgage free homes for those who lost their homes in the floods of the Hurricane. La Grange has been blessed by the generous contributions to the well-being of our citizens. They were able to succeed in building-out the Hope Hill subdivision despite years of opposition by the La Grange Citizens Alliance. We cannot thank them enough for all they have done for our community.”

The La Grange Citizens Alliance (LGCA) was actually in support of the Hope Hill project by Samaritan’s Purse and not in opposition as reported by the Mayor. The LGCA provided regular updates to that charitable organization between 2018 and 2019. Conference calls were held in May 2019 between the LGCA steering committee and SP officials in North Carolina. Samaritan’s Purse informed the steering committee that it planned to take complete control of the Hope Hill project. SP reaffirmed that the Fayette County Disaster Recovery Team (FCDRT) would have to cease any involvement with the Hope Hill project and be required to transfer the title of the subdivision land and to reimburse SP with the balance of its three million dollar donation.

The La Grange Citizens Alliance were welcomed guests at Samaritan’s Purses’ dedication held in April 2020 for the first house at Hope Hill. A Samaritan’s Purse official, who gave the opening prayer, sat next to me for a part of that ceremony, which included the son of Franklin Graham. This same SP official and I had spoken by phone the previous day and prior to his departure for Texas from North Carolina.

To underscore the support by the La Grange Citizens Alliance for the Hope Hill Subdivision, a public statement was published in a Letter to the Editor within The Fayette County Record during May 2020 and titled “La Grange Citizens Alliance Applauds Samaritan’s Purse and Hope Hill.” The comments by Mayor Moerbe representing the City of La Grange, are both misleading and inappropriate.

Neale Rabensburg

La Grange