The rise of the Neighborhood Facebook Page has eclipsed the Neighborhood Associations in both influence and tone by having more engagement, more influence, and more visibility than the official neighborhood association does.  This phenomenon is happening in the Historic Northeast and it’s important to highlight because either one can make or break a neighborhood.  Neighborhood Associations still have their place because a 501c3 tax status is of utmost importance when applying for grants but this makes them puppets with strings leading directly back to Neighborhood Facebook pages.  Multiple residents in both past and present leadership roles in the Northeast recognize this as a problem but realize without a movement from many hundreds of residents, it is not one that can be overcome easily.

Residents need to be aware that in many cases, the ownership of the neighborhood Facebook pages – both public and private- usually aren’t the Official Neighborhood Association.  I have heard admins of these pages directly state that they don’t want to be responsible to follow the rules and would rather be “behind the scenes”.  And for sure, there is a lot going on “behind the scenes”.  One of my hopes as a result of this letter is that  residents of the Historic Northeast will begin to engage more directly with their Official Neighborhood Associations, who are bound by laws and rules. The admins of the Facebook pages are not bound to any rules, not even their own.  Admins of neighborhood pages decide what comments/posts are allowed to be seen by their residents and their public, and they decide what will never be seen. These decisions cast enormous control and influence over the current and future direction of the neighborhood and in my opinion, can guide the neighborhood right over Cliff Drive. 

I recently resigned as President of the Pendleton Heights Neighborhood Association due to an anonymous post that appeared to be a direct attempt to influence an official decision of PHNA. The anonymous post was allowed to stay up by page admins, which was a signal that it was okay to anonymously pressure the neighborhood association / the president of the association on a neighborhood page. The other six members of the board silently condoned the anonymous behavior.  I loved my neighborhood and spent five years and three months of my life in official capacity fundraising, educating and trying to create relationships.  I wrote a letter to the public, as closure, as a goodbye, as an apology and posted it to the public social media page, but it was deleted by an admin of the page who is not a part of the PHNA board.  It was explained to me that the Pendleton Heights social media pages are not for “personal statements” even though it was a letter of the outgoing President to the public and in my opinion, the perfect place to be posted.  Instead, the board sent out an email to membership informing them of my resignation in the most generic of ways.  Although it was sent to PHNA membership, it ignored many other entities.  It is important to me that my words are read not only by the limited members on our mailing list, but to all of the people and businesses that I worked with, throughout the city, over the past many years.  I am submitting this Letter to the Editor exactly as posted in February, without changes and hoping it will be printed so that the hundreds of people I have worked with and spoke with throughout the years will see that my resignation was not generic, it was not without thought, and it was not without heartbreak. It was not a light decision. I encourage residents of the Historic Northeast to please pay attention to the neighborhood Facebook pages, the admins, and their agenda.  Social media can erode community cohesion much more quickly than it can build it. Attending in-person meetings and directly engaging your neighborhood associations with your input is the best way to improve the neighborhood vibe and efficiency. Also, watch those treasurer’s reports.  

2-20-2026

Dear Pendleton Heights Neighborhood, as well as my friends outside our neighborhood boundaries and our partners throughout the city: 

At the beginning of this year, it was with much excitement and eagerness that I volunteered to be President of the Pendleton Heights Neighborhood Association.  I love this neighborhood, I had optimistic goals for it, and I believed in us.   I made beautiful plans with you, I promised we would have fun, and I had very much looked forward to completing those plans together.   

However, due to multiple circumstances that were beyond my control both as a human being and as the sitting president of the Neighborhood Association, I have decided the healthiest course of action for myself is to step away from the Pendleton Heights Neighborhood Association and all of its affiliated committees and activities.  

This decision is solely my own and for that, I am heartbroken to cease the plans I made with all of you.  

I hope everyone continues to support our positively urban and uniquely eclectic neighborhood.  

Sincerely, 

Christy Maddux
Recent President of PHNA
Longtime Resident of Pendleton Heights