Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Margy Meath on September 1, 2011 at 9:16am

Code violations are the City's responsibility. Getting the city to DO SOMETHING about them is a major hassle and some believe that the city's lack of response has directly contributed to the decline of our neighborhood.

The City frequently tries to put the burden on neighbors to address these violations and some city employees have violated the confidentiality of neighbors who make a valid complaint re: a violation - this definitely creates negativity!  .... in some scenarios, talking with a neighbor about a property concern/issue works very well but there are plenty of examples when this does NOT work as indicated by the story Louise shared above (and countless others I have heard).

As a tax payer I expect the city to do their part in keeping our neighborhoods safe and economically viable. As a community member, I hope that my neighbors will take pride in their homes and abide by the very reasonable rules and expectations re: property issues.

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Permalink Reply by DeWain Feller on September 2, 2011 at 10:06pm

The Housing Committee's primary focus is to find ways to improve code enforcement in our neighborhood, and hence it is entirely on-target that the meeting focused on code violation issues.

 

It was stressed at the meeting code issues require a range of responses.  There are some cases where gentle persuasion and education will work.  On the opposite end of the spectrum are cases where the property owner/landlord blatantly disregards their impact on their neighbors.  And there is a wide range of shades of gray in between, with an equally wide range of approaches needed to tackle the problems.

 

In the case of property owners who simply do not care about the neighborhood, we simply need to get the city is NSC (Neighborhood Service Center-- the successor to NET) to be much more assertive.  This is turn requires that the 19th WCA be much more assertive (not aggressive) with the city and NSC.  In most cases, we will not be dealing directly with property owners/landlords, but rather, we will be pressuring the city to do the job that we are paying them to do.  None of this is negative or confrontational; it is simply doing what must be done to turn around our neighborhood.

 

The issue of a free municipal WiFi service is worthwhile, but it is outside of the core mission of the Housing Committee.  If neighbors want to advocate that City Hall implement a WiFi service, I would encourage them to lobby City Hall.

 

Another key point is that WiFi (and other efforts to boost the market for neighborhood homes) are not mutually exclusive with code enforcement efforts.  While a WiFi system would have a strong impact in better parts of the Ward, we have some streets with such serious problems with property deterioration, crime and quality-of-life issues, that property values would not be boosted at all by a WiFi system.  Our distressed streets need active intervention to address their problems, and that is where we must focus the efforts of the 19^th WCA.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Sweetland on September 2, 2011 at 11:07pm

All good points, DeWain.  Also, while working with the E2 Block Club, I found there are a majority of residents who do not own computers. 

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Permalink Reply by Louise Wu on September 3, 2011 at 6:54am

Mark,

 

You say a number of people on your street do not own computers.  Some of the people at the meeting also didn't understand the idea that freenet wifi would make the area more desirable for new residents deciding to move into the neighborhood.    I appreciate that Dewain believes that housing committee should be focused on code violations by repeatedly asserting same. I guess my question is if that  is the only mission of the committee?  What has the committee worked on in the past, and will they be open to innovation and new initiatives moving forward?  Would it be a good idea to form a codes committee just to work on that since Dewain and a few other people have a lot of energy around that issue?

Permalink Reply by DeWain Feller on September 3, 2011 at 1:51pm

Louise,

The current 19th WCA Executive Committe is very open to new ideas.  We are mostly "fresh blood", and we are not bound by what was done in the past.

The mission of the Housing Committee was created based on the the feedback that we got from our neighbors, including the 2010 survey.  Code enforcement is clearly a major problem, and a lot of people have asked that we focus on it.  We have limited volunteer power, and there are lot of issues that we could work on, so it is important that we focus on the most important issues that we can have an effect on.

If some people volunteer to work on an issue that was not identified as a priority, that would be welcomed (as long as is consistent with the mission of the 19th WCA and the interest of the neighborhood).  However, if someone just has an idea that they want someone else to implement, we would just politely have to say no.

If some people wanted to work on advocating for a municipal WiFi, I don't see anything wrong with that.

Permalink Reply by Louise Wu on September 3, 2011 at 4:40pm

A survey sounds interesting.  Was it just sent to members or to the wider community?  Did people fill in their priorities or were they given a list already composed from which to choose?  Was the survey published to the list at some point?  It would be cool to look at it.

Permalink Reply by Louise Wu on September 5, 2011 at 8:57am

The zoning committee's work to stop the junk yard and the ward community's offensive against real estate red-lining in its earlier history both qualify as stellar grass roots advocacy efforts.  The growing community push back against fraudulent foreclosures on the west side is the same type of effort.  Thankfully, many neighbors, church justice groups like Spiritus Christi, and community organizations like Metro Justice, see what a blight and danger this is to home owners in the area and are actively helping.  Their help is actually getting some results.  Due to pressure from community groups and individuals, Empire Justice is now representing the lady on my street, Cathy Lennon, and the lady on Appleton has won a continuance in city court (until December!) so that her case can be heard in supreme court.  Real grass roots movements (unlike the Tea Party which is astroturf/fake grass roots that has billionaire backers) typically have zero to no financing.  So Dewain saying that 19WCA doesn't have the funds to work on the fraudulent foreclosure problem is kind of a red herring distraction?  It also is sort of mystifying how zone violations of long grass and mis-placed garbage cans are more detrimental and dangerous to the community than hundreds of illegally foreclosed on and empty houses that are vulnerable to arson, burglaries and becoming drug dens?   Is the housing committee going to be a one issue group working on zone violations?  The people who came to the meeting seemed to be interested in a variety of issues?

Permalink Reply by Ken Maher on September 3, 2011 at 8:20pm

Before Ann left as office manager, she told me that, in addition to the Housing Committee, headed by Wendy Sullivan, there was also a Zoning Committee, headed by Adrienne Kllc. I am not sure there is any interest in reviving the latter, too, but there definitely is interest in neighborhood concerns outside the parameters of the Housing Committee focus as it is now being defined by the 19WCA. That may well be the historical focus of that committee, and I have no problem with that.

However, I know personally that there is interest in "increasing the curb value" (a term used to support the work of the Housing Committee) and in enhancing the marketability of the neighborhood in two specific areas:

• bringing free wifi to the neighborhood as a whole
• increasing the curb value of neighborhoods by working to prevent the high number of foreclosures (some of which are totally unnecessary) that result in the worst neiborhood violation of code (in my mind), viz., the foreclosure signs in front of and boarding up of homes that our friends and neighbors have totally not violated.

It seems to me that the 19WCA, which anticipated a great deal of trouble finding the volunteer resources to restart the Housing Committee to concentrate on code violations is now well placed to begin that work. There were probably 20 volunteers at the first meeting. So I propose that interested parties seek to form ad hoc neighborhood committees for these two important concerns (and possibly others that I haven't been previously considered here) without burdening the 19WCA itself.

To that end, I wonder if anyone would be interested in meeting with me two weeks from today on Saturday (9/17) at my house or, if it's available, at the Arnett Branch Library. If interested in discussing these or other 19th Ward concerns, please email me at kmaher2@rochester.rr.com. My proposal is to explore the establishment of one or more neighborhood interest groups apart from the official 19WCA. If, at some point in the future, the 19WCA decides that one or more of these neighborhood interest groups is doing work that the CA would like to include under its aegis, the relevant parties could consider that move. Thanks.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Sweetland on September 4, 2011 at 12:08am

I believe it was the Zoning Committee that prevented the site in the northwest from being turned into a dumping ground for cars, so I see great value in that as a continuing group.  I agree that the foreclosure signs are a concern, and work needs to be done at a legislative level to help solve this problem.  Finally, I think attacking code violations is a necessary and important need that the Association can address.  It will have a positive impact.  Work can be done in conjunction with the Neighborhood Service Center.

I do think you have taken a positive approach to this and your ideas are very welcome!  A great idea to form support groups, and then I would take the ideas to the 19th Ward Community Association, for their added support.  Let's work together for our common good!

 

Permalink Reply by Ken Maher on September 4, 2011 at 9:32am

I'm glad you agree with me, Mark. Please let me know at my email address above, if you're interested in joining the discussion on 9/17.

Permalink Reply by DeWain Feller on September 4, 2011 at 1:28pm

The Zoning Committee is active and has been active for years.  They meet on an as-needed basis when there are applications for zoning variances, and they report regularly to the Executive Committee and Delegates' Council.  There will be some interaction between the Zoning Committee and Housing Committee, especially as we work toward implementing a housing policy.

 

There was very strong interest in forming the Housing Committee, so our concern was not that we could not find enough volunteers for the Housing Committee, but rather that the Executive Committee wanted to make sure that we worked through a lot of other high priority items (such as the Square Fair) before we tried to launch the Housing Committee.

 

Permalink Reply by DeWain Feller on September 4, 2011 at 1:37pm

Please keep in mind that the primary reasons why I don't believe that the 19thWCA could have an impact on foreclosures or implementing WiFi is that both of those issues are beyond the scope of what the neighborhood could affect.  Foreclosures are largely driven by the economy, which we cannot have an affect on (other than trying to promote businesses in the Ward).  Issues with fraudulent foreclosures require legal action that is beyond what any neighborhood group can afford and effectively pull off.

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