Some people to contact in an area: local police or sheriff, the Mayor or the city council/staff, HUD county office (they know which banks will finance), local established business owners, local Pastors and church officials, anyone in the area of the property with a nice house.

And the city council is who decides these matters anyway, you can't trust what the mayor says.  

So, city council decided multi-units were "the enemy", and came up with a jazzy way to force them out.