This is a response to a letter received in response to my October 2013 Blog. Apparently the information was twisted and misinterpreted, eventually being exploited to intentionally spread a negative message about myself and the non-profit I’m part of. The letter we received can be found here: MUFI Letter. Since the person who wrote this letter sent it widely throughout the city, yet refuses to inform of of who received it, I thought  this blog, as the public format that provided the spark for such a conflict was only appropriate. I hope it clears things up!

Dear Khalilah,

This response to your letter (Dated 11/11/2013) is written personally and in no way reflects the views of The Michigan Urban Farming Initiative.

Vanguard CDC has been around for nearly as long as I have been alive. While your letter does a great job of sugarcoating Vanguards “accomplishments” and highlighting the “tireless and sincere commitment”, the reality of the situation, as seen through my naïve eyes, couldn’t be more different.

The blatant libel surrounding the claims of our non-profit holdings “approaching 40” and aiding out of state speculators are false and offensive. Our non-profit technically owns three properties, and purchased one more in the recent tax auction. Following the receipt of our deed from the County, MUFI now owns two structures and two large pieces of vacant land. Both of the vacant parcels were donated to us last summer and are not in the North End. In our last meeting, you pointed out your extensive knowledge surrounding real estate. Specifically, you highlighted your degree’s focus was on urban planning, that fact you’ve worked for the state land bank, and I later found you were previously licensed as a real estate salesperson in the state of Michigan. With this resume, it’d appear common sense to spend a few minutes performing online research through any number of databases before widely spreading such a falsity.

If any of our Board Members have stated that the non-profit owns that many properties, they were mistaken. Five of our eleven individual Board Members personally own property in the North End, and perhaps you are confusing their personal residences, side lots, and investments with those of the non-profit. We believe it is great for the people in our organization to be so personally invested in the community.

In full disclosure, I’m the Board Member with the greatest amount of personally-owned property in the North End. I’m also the Co-Founder and Vice President of The Michigan Urban Farming Initiative. I currently own one single family home and six vacant lots in the North End. I am in contact with the neighbors of these properties and maintain them to the standard they’ve requested. One lot is used for neighborhood flag football and is adjacent to a park (that I frequently mow), and I have given permission to a neighbor to erect a inflatable pool on another. All of these vacant parcels were purchased in prior year tax actions – most of them for the minimum bid of $200 or $500. I am current on all property taxes for these parcels, despite fighting for up to two years to have them reassessed as vacant lots. This last fall purchased two townhouses and a vacant lot. These homes have been repeatedly broken into, contained massive piles of dog feces, contained structural issues, and have been partially scrapped. In just a few months, I’ve stabilized the properties, cleaned them out, become friends with the neighbors, and installed security measures. I’ve also brought the taxes current and paid high water bills from burst pipes. Needless to say, I have a low tolerance for people like you who insist I’m a speculator, who by definition is short-sighted.

In addition, I’ve discussed with you, in depth, my interests, goals, and aspirations. My triple career track of an environmental engineer, urban farmer, and real estate agent/developer was concerning to you, as you mentioned I have “three hats”, which are difficult for you to distinguish between. You voiced your concern regarding a real or perceived conflict of interest, while I conveyed the positive synergistic effect my interests have towards each other. During this meeting I discussed the donation my employer was making to our nonprofit and inquired about how environmental assessment work could assist development in the North End. Following this conversation, you proceeded to contact a Vice President at my employing company to voice these concerns. This was after asking me to sample your garden soil for nutrient and heavy metals. You conveniently pointed out how soil sampling for urban agriculture purposes on behalf of MUFI could put my engineering employer at risk. You discussed the other co-founder’s role in our organization with my employer and called my company’s support of our organization a potential “black-eye”.  Regardless, the President of my company provided direct financial and in-kind vehicular assistance towards an annual clean-up event in the neighborhood.

In response to the assistance afforded “out-of-state investors”: Our non-profit, or its members, have not interacted with any investors in the North End neighborhood other than those who are already here. Two board members utilized their personally registered accounts to aid a good deal of purchasing and investment in the North End last fall. I personally assisted Jerry Hebron of North End Christian CDC purchase a home directly fronting their farmer’s market site. Our Secretary, Jason Lindy, assisted Roger Robinson, a 30 year long local business owner, in purchasing 3 properties. He assisted our organization’s Farm Manager in buying a home for her and her brother to live in, and aided a local mural artist, Halima Cassels, in purchasing a property next to her residence. In addition to this direct involvement with the tax auction, these individuals initiated proactive conversation upon realizing conflicting or complementary interest in a property. On three occasions, I connected auction bidders so they could independently discuss their plans and potentially collaborate. We were previously aware of three other purchasers who bought homes within a few blocks of our farm and are excited to assist them in their cleanup efforts. We are hoping that the real estate knowledge some of our Board Members have will aide these people in more efficiently realizing their goals.
Following the auction, I decided to reach out to as many new property owners in the vicinity of my personal investments and our non-profit’s farm site as possible. Through online research and social networking sites, he has had success in contacting a half dozen investors and residents to both determine their intentions and aid them in their pursuits. These people include the likes of Mr. Ryan Zampardo, a young development associate in Washington DC with family ties to Detroit. He purchased a 90 foot wide lot and expressed interest in pop-up retail or structural art installations. They also include Mr. Zachary Schafer, a licensed builder and food system non-profit director who has already gutted and secured a blighted home on Westminster Street. I have informed him of the upcoming Restore North End program Vanguard is promoting.

I think the majority of your criticism stems from your inability to differentiate the personal lives of individual Board Members from the actions of the non-profit. While this mistake is somewhat forgivable given the grassroots nature of our young non-profit and resulting level of its members’ commitment, it should not be used to viciously attack our organization which has attempted to bring nothing but good to the neighborhood.

Since your entire letter was ultimately sparked by my personal Challenge Detroit Blog titled, “A Concoction of an Auction”, I felt it only appropriate to just as publicly share my perspective. Within this blog, I stated “from my personal perspective” and “I personally purchased two condos and a vacant lot.”, but it was apparently able to be misinterpreted. I hope this clears the air. The non-profit’s “misaligned” future plans will either require correction or adjustment, but from MY perspective, a vicious and widely sent attack does nothing to increase dialogue between the organizations we’re so passionately involved in. In the future I hope you will not only perform research before jumping to conclusions, but simply ask questions. We are, in fact, neighbors after all.

Kind Regards,

Darin McLeskey

Co-Founder, Vice President of The Michigan Urban Farming Initiative

Environmental Engineer, Soil and Materials Engineers, Inc.

Real Estate Salesperson, The Loft Warehouse

Founder, Owner, Detroit Denovo LLC

P.S. Because you refuse to disclose to whom you’ve sent your letter to, I am including it as an attachment to this response.