Sober House plans scrapped after pitchfork-wielding mob demands its termination

A social services group that was looking to convert a soon-to-be-abandoned St. Paul building into a “sober house” has ditched its plans after nearby residents balked at the idea. (Obligatory side note: sober houses, you might infer, are supportive homes for recovering alcoholics and addicts. No booze or smack allowed.)

In a letter announcing the cancellation, RS Eden President Dan Cain attributed his organization's decision, in part, to “inflammatory, manipulative and false propaganda” on the part of neighbors. (A resident-spurred website, stopeden.com, had, at one point, featured what appeared to be drug-addled vagrants on its homepage. In an awesomely passive-aggressive, er, conciliatory move, the site now exhibits Cain’s rescinding letter under a heading thanking him for his decision and contains a link for neighbors to thank Cain directly.)

Writes Cain:

I never want to give the impression that the people who propagated the falsehoods, and were most rabid in their opposition, somehow scared and swift-boated us away from a project. On the other hand, my overly competitive nature could result in moving ahead with a project just to prove someone else wrong. And that’s not a good reason to do much of anything.

(For more on the sober house controversy in St. Paul, peep a story we ran last year. It contains no “manipulative or false propaganda,” we promise.)