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Fifth in a series. The community organization I work for organized an issues forum with the three candidates running for Mayor of Syracuse. These highly subjective and biased ruminations on the candidate’s remarks (I have endorsed and volunteer for Stephanie Miner) are solely those of your humble blogger and may not be reproduced without the expressed, written consent of Major League Baseball. Or if you buy me a nice present. Or if you ask nicely.
Here are the current perceptions of neighbors living in the south, southwest and near-west sides about the crime in their neighborhoods, even after all the efforts of concerned neighborhood residents, the current administration and the police department: Hundreds of drug houses and corners with open sales of illegal drugs; frequent gun shots; loitering gangs on corners and at vacant houses; poor or no response to 911 calls–especially to non-emergency/quality of life issues and to ANY issue on weekends; vandalism and property destruction; reckless driving and speeding–both cars and 2-3-4 wheeled motor bikes.
Two questions: First, please give us your definition of community policing. Second, as Mayor, how will you use your definition of community policing to make our neighborhoods safer?
Otis Jennings: Otis believes that real community policing would mean having a police force that builds realtionships with the neighbors and engages the community. Mr. Jennings believes that one way to deal with crime in our neighborhoods is to increase the number of police on the force. He mentioned that there is a class of potential officers currently undergoing training and that the incoming federal stimulus money will enable the city to start another class this coming year. He committed to maintaining the police force at this higher number of officers, even after the stimulus money has been used up in three years. Oh, and he feels our pain. Someone busted into his car and stole his GPS device while he was out campaigning.
Stephanie Miner: Stephanie believes that true community policing results when neighborhood residents have developed relationships with police officers that they know and trust. When this trust level increases, information is shared more freely and crimes are solved more easily. Too much emphasis on crime suppression has led to an atmosphere of fear and distrust of the police. Too many residents are unwilling to share information with police officers. In addition, Stephanie believes that the poor response time of the police is due to their traveling from call to call dispatched from 911. Ms. Miner believes the city could improve response times by using the kind of technology that will enable the police to better analyze crime data, systematically identify problem spots and more efficiently deploy police officers.
Steve Kimatian: Steve believes that community policing results when uniform police officers are working in a community on a regular basis–to the extent that they are known by residents as the neighborhood beat cop. Steve has an overarching philosophy of zero tolerance for what may be referred to as petty crimes: noise, parking trash. He wants to establish a baseline of order in the community, so that residents respect and maintain their property and neighborhood out of respect for their neighbors. Mr. Kimatian also has a five point crime program, but only discussed one point–a youth curfew. He believes that there are too many kids out late at night and they can be exploited by gangs. Steve acknowledged that not all kids can be taken home because of problems there, so he would invest in a counseling/service center where kids can be evaluated and referred to needed services.
Otis Jennings
Third in a series. The community organization I work for organized an issues forum with the three candidates running for Mayor of Syracuse. These highly subjective and biased ruminations on the candidate’s remarks (I have endorsed and volunteer for Stephanie Miner) are solely those of your humble blogger and may not be reproduced without the expressed, written consent of Major League Baseball. Or if you buy me a nice present. Or if you ask nicely.
The organization I work for asked each candidate to respond to a 50-odd answer questionnaire on neighborhood issues. We then crafted an individual question to ask each candidate at the forum based on one of their responses.
Otis Jennings: You would give owners of properties with large and illegal trash set-outs a 24 hr. notice before having DPW clean up the mess and fine the owners. 24 hours is a long time for wind to blow trash around, animals to rip through bags and neighbors forced to put up with the problem. Trash smells like hell in the hot summer months. Why give problem properties a break? They don’t give neighbors a break!
Otis responded that he believed that it was a requirement to give a homeowner a 24 hour notice before picking up trash and fining them. However, he stated he was “not married to that.” I will pick things up immediately if I find it is legal to do so. Otis also asked for neighbors’ support in calling in violations to the city and expressed his desire to clean up the city.
First in a series. The community organization I work for organized an issues forum with the three candidates running for Mayor of Syracuse. These highly subjective and biased ruminations on the candidate’s remarks (I have endorsed and volunteer for Stephanie Miner) are solely those of your humble blogger and may not be reproduced without the expressed, written consent of Major League Baseball. Or if you buy me a nice present. Or if you ask nicely.
The neighborhoods on the south, southwest and near-west sides of Syracuse make up only 15% of the city’s households, but our neighborhoods harbor 45% of the city’s vacant houses. There are over 1,500 vacant houses in the city, an increase of nearly 40% from the totals reported just four years ago. The city’s responses to the problem are clearly not working. Vacant houses are places to buy, sell and hide illegal drugs and weapons. Vacant properties are illegal dumps for trash and junk cars. Vacant houses draw youths who loiter, fight and make noise into the early morning hours. The vacant houses are targets for arson, depress home values and make it hard for neighbors to get homeowners insurance.
As Mayor, what will you do to reduce the number of vacant houses in our neighborhoods, adequately maintain the vacant houses remaining and rehabilitate more vacant houses for new owner/occupants?
Stephanie Miner was incredibly impressive on the housing issues presented to her, not surprising since during her time on the Common Council she has worked closely with our organization and others to improve the flawed Community Development Block Grant program that funds most housing work in low income city neighborhoods. Stephanie emphasized that we can’t demolish our way out of the problem and stated that the city needs to prioritize rehabilitation of properties over new construction. Stephanie also made an eloquent appeal to value the beautifully constructed older homes in our neighborhoods, (“that which makes us unique”) even if it may cost a little more in the long run. To this end, she also feels that the city should invest in deconstruction of houses, saving what we can of our houses rather than carting everything to the dump.
Otis Jennings bombed on this issue–he praised Roy Bernardi’s tax auction of delinquent houses as a means to deal with vacant houses. The auction was something I dedicated 6 years of my organizing life to kill, a program that decimated our neighborhoods. The auction disproportionately hurt the low income folks that could not afford to pay off their back taxes or negotiate a payment plan with the city–resulting in a net transfer from owner/occupants in low income neighborhoods to investor/speculators. Otis also said he would implement the recommendations of a 2005 ESF study on vacant houses. I’ve never heard of the study and he didn’t explain even one provision it contains.
Steve Kimatian name checked the Flint land bank as a way to deal with vacant houses, but he had no seeming recognition that land banks require state approval to create and Governor Patterson has already vetoed a land bank bill once. Steve also seemed to be gung ho for demolition, especially of dangerous homes and those contributing to crime. Steve promised to immediately demolish those houses that were in dangerous condition or a focal point of criminal activity. He also promised to meet with neighbors and listen to their ideas for saving some houses from demolition. However, Steve’s main points on vacant housing seem to involve a back hoe and a wrecking ball.
Since I actually received a request from a long-time reader and fellow blogger asking me to continue discussing the upcoming Syracuse Mayoral campaign, here we go:
1) Joe Nicoletti probably figures he can’t win many votes in the liberal heartland of Syracuse, the University eastside, home of the powerhouse 17th Ward Democratic committee. But he does know how to get some cash out of the area. Check out this article about a city/county kerfluffle over zoning off-campus student housing in the University.
The money quote for politics fans:
Several SU-area landlords have contributed to mayoral candidate Joe Nicoletti’s campaign, but not Stephanie Miner, the Democrats’ designated candidate. On the council, she supported the new law; at least three officials from the neighborhood association have donated to her campaign.
2) A friend forwarded me an e-mail being sent to Otis Jennings supporters, asking them to attend a recent fundraiser at the Dinosaur. Now I thought the Mayor of Syracuse mainly dealt with deploying the city employees who maintain roads, police our streets, pick up trash, put out fires and keep our parks clean.
But apparently, the Mayor of Syracuse also sits athwart our degenerate culture and protects the godly from the evil secular humanists. Some choice tidbits from the e-mail:
If you and I can be honest, we have to admit that we all complain about our liberal government, and how wasteful and ungodly it has become, but we do very little about it. It’s true, isn’t it? Well Otis has tossed his hat into the ring, and is diving in after it! He’s in it up to his eyeballs, and there’s no turning back.
I believe it is the responsibility of faith-filled, patriotic Americans to back people like Otis, and thus impact a godless culture that suffers from a lack of strong moral leadership.
Well, in recent decades, people who defy Biblical principles have “come out of the closet” to challenge those beliefs, and sadly, not enough of us said anything to oppose them. The result is, today what was once shameful and destructive to children and families, is fast becoming the law of the land. And there are tidal waves of new hedonistic rhetoric that push the limits even further spewing out of every media outlet imaginable. Worse yet, in an unbelievable reversal of roles, people of faith are now the ones being invited to go “into the closet.” We’re being told not to dare speak of God and righteous values in the public forum again!
3) (Full disclosure: this blog has endorsed and volunteers for the Miner campaign.)
ElectWomen Magazine has named Stephanie’s campaign as the 4th hottest woman candidate race in the country.
