Good News Feature
Don't Flowers in Bloom Make You Feel Good?
Red, Even in the Dark
Dogwood Blossoms
Posted at 12:00 AM | Community | Comments (0)
Broken Fence Update
Who will write "The Ballad of the Broken Fence"
After futiley chasing David P. of the ONS by e-mail for over a week, about the broken fence beneath the Cypress Street Overpass, and then contacting Ms. R. Murphy, D.P. e-mailed me that the fence would be fixed by the Parks Dept. He originally told me that it would be fixed by the DPW on June 10th, but I think these City Departments give the folks at the ONS the runaround as much as they do the citizenry. Maybe Carol Grant, the Director of Operations can straighten them out. I think the DPW refused to do the repair and passed the buck to the Parks Dept. Divide and conqueor, delay and confuse, common tactics used by City employees. But that's just a guess.
An excerpt from the e-mail:
After the inspections by Sal Solomon and collaboration by the Parks Dept., it has been decided that Bob McMahon of the Parks Dept. will have one of his crews repair the fence...We are currently looking at a three week window. This is the latest update that I have received as of today...
Who would'a thunk it would be so difficult to get a small section of broken fence fixed.
We first contacted the ONS about this problem on May 27th, 2005 (we worked on it also, all of 2004) and here we are. Fence still not fixed. I love the symbolism. Isn't this small problem a problem that our City Councilor, Kevin Jackson, should be addressing? Or is that too much to ask of our elected representitive?
I'm still high as a kite that I got two small potholes fixed. Did we just witness a miracle when that happened? I guess the ponderous wheels of government move very slowly when they even move at all.
How many others have contacted the City about the broken fence? Any response?
John Twomey
Posted at 07:53 PM | Issues | Comments (0)
Adopt a Pothole
Where Have All the Pothole Heads Gone?
Get down with our GCCC Adopt a Pothole Program. I've already adopted two potholes. Next time you drive down the hill on Cypress and go over the black asphalt patch opposite the KFC where there used to be a bone rattling pothole you will be driving over the John Michael Twomey Memorial Pothole.
If you ever drive down Locust Street to Knowles (and you'd better be driving slow) and you turn right onto Knowles you are driving over the John Michael Twomey Jr. Memorial Pothole.
You too can have a pothole named after you. All you have to do is identify a pothole as your adopted progeny, call in the exact location to the DPW at the DPW phone to report potholes at 467-7950. Then file your claim to the pothole naming rights by posting in the comments box on this entry. When the pothole has been fixed it is yours. Potholes will be adopted on a first-come first-serve basis.
If you wish to name a pothole after a friend or to honor a loved one that's fine. But if you wish to have the community contuinaly drive over a pothole named after one of your enemies, well, that too is fine with the GCCC organization. We're that kind of people, flexible and understanding.
Who will be next to accquire Pothole Naming Rights. Who will have the most potholes named in Mt. Hope. The race is on members, no rest for the weary.
Where Have All the Pothole Heads Gone?
John Twomey
Posted at 10:32 PM | Issues | Comments (0)
Apology & Mea Culpa Too
I just wanted to apologize to the group for leaving a little earlier than I would have liked last week. The person I was trying to recruit needed a ride back to his house to meet with someone. Didn't want to make him walk back, but I was a little dissapointed that he had to leave so early and ofcourse had to give him a ride back.
Also, I have had many different problems with regards to the property I own in this area, but I hardly bring any of it up at the meetings. I try to take care of it on my own time, and deal with it on my own. I attend these meetings to hear what other people are going through, and find out ways where I can help contribute to the over all cause. You all know I may make a joking remark to the police about the ideal way to handle some of these criminals, but hardly ever bring up, or go on a tangent about the myriad of problems I've been dealing with since buying down here. It's a long story, but again one I hardly talk about at the first two and only meetings I have attended since joining a couple of months ago. Apologize again, and look forward to seeing you all in the future!
Solon
Posted at 10:28 PM | GCCC | Comments (1)
GCCC Meeting a Pleasure.
"That was a very nice meeting." a member.
Thanks to all who attended the GCCC meeting on Wednesday, June 22. About 25 members attended and in addition we had five new member guests, one of whom signed up and paid his dues. Welcome, Jack Walsh, our 64th paid member. In addition, lt. Schiavulli and two beat officers also attended for a total of over 30 in attendance.
The minutes from the meeting will be posted soon.
We reviewed the year to date as far as our Crime Watch initiative and our 2005 GCCC Agenda are progressing.
Ten Crime Watch signs will be ordered and placed.
Some members were disappointed that Rep Fox did not show up again to discuss his promise to schedule a meeting with the State Police as he promised in our March meeting. Fox has also not followed through on his public pledge to secure some funding for GCCC through legislative grants.
Graffiti on my Fence (since Removed) Much Improved
Lt. Schiavulli proved to be a hit among our members who were impressed with his candor and his commitment to improving the quality of life in Mt. Hope through District 8 community policing. The topics covered by the Lt. are too detailed to go into here, but will be covered later. Lt. Schiavulli stressed how much improved Mt. Hope is over the last 15 years.
We had two different parties who came to the meeting to address their specific agenda and the problems specific to them and not to the community in general. One party, two people from Forest Street, wished to address the loitering on and around 206 Camp Street and outside the Men’s Pride building on Camp Street. They were reluctant to join or to even share their address, phone, or e-mail address even after we committed significant time to discussing their issues. When I asked them to join GCCC, and pointed out that they had already received more than $15.00 worth of service, (GCCC dues for one year) they demurred in joining our organization.
The other party, one member and his guest, a contractor, Pat, who has worked for Donald Shein, came to complain that his contractor’s tools had been stolen from his job sites. It was suggested by Irene that the contractor invest in an alarm system for the jobs he works on as a cost effective solution to prevent theft.
After we devoted about 30 minutes of our time to the contractor’s issues, this party of two unceremoniously got up and left in the middle of the meeting, obviously because they had addressed the issues important to them, and because the general issues relevant to the community at large held no interest to them. More than one member commented on how transparent, rude and disrespectful this behavior seemed.
This prompted a discussion after the meeting about how to handle this problem in the future. It was suggested that we restrict the meetings strictly to members only and if any non members wish to attend to discuss their specific issues, they pay GCCC dues before being allowed in to the meeting.
Another, suggested a pre-emptive strike, by asking before the meeting if anyone will be needing to leave before the meeting is over and why. And asking if they have a specific issue to address.
Numerous times we have run into people who wish to use the GCCC organization to further their own narrow agenda without contributing to furthering the improvement of the Mt. Hope community as a whole. Perhaps it is time to develop techniques to prevent these types of people from wasting our time and energy. Your suggestions on this topic are welcome.
At the close of the meeting members discussed the formation of the Reorganization/Election Committee for the election of new officers in September.
Elections will be held for President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Members Secretary for Recruitment, Political Liaison Officer, and Community Relations Director.
All members paid up for the year 2005 by August 15th will have a vote.
Members will be drawing up new by laws, rules of order for meetings, and a comprehensive GCCC general agenda. We will begin disseminating information on this process shortly.
Recommit, recruit, and realize, it takes a village!
And that it takes individuals, working, on a day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year basis!
With that kind of philosophy and committment, we can forge a new Mt. Hope, inclusive and diverse, and we can break free from the chains of the Drug Culture and the crime that keeps us apart, ruins our quality of life, and that wants to make us prisoners in an insular life.
Our GCCC Mission Statement states that we strive to improve the quality of life for all Mt. Hope residents.
Remember that.
John Twomey
Posted at 12:01 PM | GCCC | Comments (3)
Two Potholes Fixed!!
Hallelujah!!
At Wednesday's meeting I reported that neither of the potholes I called in to the DPW, one opposite the KFC on Cypress and the other at the foot of Locust & Knowles had as yet been fixed. Well, I just returned home up Cypress over to Knowles and lo & behold both Potholes have now been fixed.
I guess that DPW number works!
I reminded the membership at the meeting that one of our 2005 Agenda items, Infrastructure, was to identify and have repaired all the potholes in Mt. Hope and that that item might be the easiest agenda item for us to accomplish.
Here's a quote from my post of May 27th on How to use this Blog:
Identify a pothole's exact location, call it in, log in the information in the comments box of this entry. Then we monitor the data and the progress of our efforts by the ongoing comments to this entry. Fun. Fun. Fun.Link to DPW: DPW phone to report potholes 467-7950
I guess that phone number works pretty well considering I made the call on May 27th. That is not a bad response time for the city.
Has anyone else called in to the DPW to report potholes? Let us know in the Comments tab.
We cannot complain about our infrastructure if we don't identify needs and ask the city to respond. And it will take more than one person to get all the potholes identified and fixed.
John Twomey
Posted at 03:44 PM | Issues | Comments (0)
Thank You GCCC Members
A big THANK YOU to all the GCCC volunteers that helped out in the clean up day that took place last Saturday. Over 30 bags of trash were collected from Rochambeau to Doyle. GCCC members made up most of the volunteer force that was present that day and their help couldn't be more appreciated.
Beyond just the clean streets (which will inevitably get dirty agian), the real accomplishment of the clean up day was the community involvement which seems to be a much more common theme today in the Mt. Hope neighborhood.
Also a special thanks to the R.I.DEM for the supplies.
Matt Stone
Posted at 03:35 PM | Issues | Comments (0)
Camp Street Robbery
We were robbed today in broad daylight. We suspect the people that moved one of our tenants to a local nursing home. While they had their truck backed up to our front door, they helped themselves to the tools in the garage. Keep an eye out for a big white truck and three white guys (blond, blue eyes). I doubt they'll be back, but I thought I'd send the word out. Our neighbors' response has been incredible - they're just as mad as we are! This is a great neighborhood and we're all watching out for each other! Let's just keep an eye on the others.
Anonymous
Posted at 11:00 PM | Issues | Comments (1)
GCCC Meeting Tonight, 6:30
At the Rochambeau Library.
Another rash of break-ins to houses and cars has occured lately in District 8, between 20 to 30 combined. Now is the time to be cautious and careful in order to not be a victim.
Sources believe this crime rash is the work of experienced criminals, perhaps some who were recently released from incarceration.
Our new District 8 Commander, Lt. David Schiavulli, will attend the meeting and talk about community policing in Mt. Hope and District 8.
Posted at 04:08 PM | GCCC | Comments (0)
Irene's Lilies Bloom!
The Mt. Hope Good News Feature of the Week
Lily #1
The lilies bloomed this morning. Name that color.
Lily # 2
You can't argue with good news of that nature!
Posted at 04:03 PM | The Arts | Comments (0)
Drug Camper Towed
A Small but Significant Victory for Camp and Woodbine Streets
After being tagged in mid-April with a violation, finally the RV located at 234 Camp Street was towed today at about 12:30 pm. This vehicle was allegedly used to conceal drugs for a local dealer. This was a significant victory and sent the message that drug dealing is no longer going to be tolerated and overlooked in this block. Many thanks to the police and the residents in that area for being persistent.
Jen
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Persistence & Technique Pays Off
Decisive action followed by persistent follow through often pays off as illustrated by the removal of the abandonded camper used in drug related activities on Camp street.
This camper was brought to the attention of the police at the March 31st, Local Nuisance Task Force meeting held at the District 8 Substation. Although not exactly carried out with blinding speed the mission was accomplished and the camper removed. But it was only accomplished through residents following through repeatedly with the police to get something done.
That March meeting also addressed the situation at 206 Camp Street, and everyone can see the changes evident at that address. Drug dealers no longer haunt the porch nor the rear of the house like they once did. The property has been cleaned up after being cited for numerous code violations. Another effective job by GCCC.
When just calling the police numerous times does not solve a problem, further, more decisive action must be taken to get neighborhood problems solved.
John
Posted at 11:57 AM | Issues | Comments (1)
Clean up Cleans Up
An All-Volunteer Army of Mt. Hopeans bivouacked at Billy Taylor Park this morning, then, armed with white gloves and black bin bags, they patrolled the streets of Mt. Hope waging war on littter and debris. Battle after battle was waged and won, and street by street citizens took back their neighborhood from the encroaching chaos of tossed trash and garbage.
The All Volunteer Army Eats
After the clean up Matt manned a mean grill and fed the volunteers hot dogs and hamburgers.
Kevin brought some welcome reenforcements in a troop of young recruits, scouts actually, that Kevin works with in South Providence. The scouts provided a lot of help as well as their youthfull enthusiasm. Thanks to all who cleaned up and thanks, especially, to Matt and Kevin.
"You've all done very, very well."
Posted at 02:49 PM | Issues | Comments (0)
Call for Agenda Items
If you have issues . . .
Any one who wishes to suggest items to add to the agenda of our GCCC meeting of June 22, please contact me as soon as possible if you want to get them on the agenda. Invitations with the agenda will be going out soon.
So far our guests include State Rep. Fox with a State Police representitive and our new District 8 Commander, Lt. Schiavulli.
We will recap the 2005 year to date, discuss the Crime Watch formation, the 2005 agenda, and the reorganization of GCCC with an eye towards officer elections by September.
To suggest agenda items:
John@mthope-eastside.org or call 640-8077
Posted at 02:39 PM | GCCC | Comments (0)
Directing Traffic: A Climate Change in Mt. Hope?
I read an inspiring article today in the Providence Journal, titled, Walking the Line: A climate shift at Perry Middle, by Linda Borg. The article immediately made me think of an analogy between the problems at the Perry School and the problems we experience in Mt. Hope. According to Ms. Borg, Perry Middle is poised to address the academic deficiencies revealed by standardized testing. But the first order of change at Perry Middle had to be to address the horrendous disciplinary problems that so disrupted the academic program.
Directing Traffic Journal Photos/Gretchen Ertl
Hats off to our public school teachers at Perry Middle who face a daunting task each and every day they go to work. They came up with a program to study and address the disruptive behavior that so negatively affected the school. They strive to change the culture of disruption and disrespect that became entrenched at the Perry Middle.
Statistics revealed several interesting aspects of the problem: only 15% of students got in occasional trouble; only 5% of students constituted the chronic, repeat offenders. However, those 5% required 65% of the school staff’s time.
In a nutshell, these few, very disruptive individuals, wreaked havoc in the school and disrupted the academic environment for the other 95% of students. Not only that, they took away an inordinate amount of the schools resources from the other 95%, so that their problems could be dealt with.
I have long maintained that a similar dynamic exists in Mt. Hope and that most of the quality of life problems such as litter and drug dealing, vandalism and petty theft could be laid at the door stop of a very small percentage of Mt. Hope residents. If our population is approximately 6,000, then our 5% would be about 300 residents. I doubt if we even have that number of bad eggs in our basket. Yet this small, disruptive percentage negatively affects the quality of life in Mt. Hope to such a degree that some residents move elsewhere, some don’t walk down their own community’s streets or use their own park. And all Mt. Hope residents suffer from the stress and fear created by a climate of crime. Homes are being broken into and cars are being broken into on a daily basis. Drug use and drug dealing can be witnessed on a daily basis.
Litter & Vandalism, A Symbol of Mt. Hope Culture?
I propose changing the culture of Mt. Hope from a culture where criminals are comfortable and feel entitled, ( and believe me, our criminals feel very comfortable and very entitled dealing and stealing in Mt. Hope!) to a culture where honest citizens feel comfortable and entitled living and working in Mt. Hope. Comfortable to go to work in the day and to sleep at night without worrying about their home or car being broken into, entitled to walk down their community’s streets and not feel fear or see drug use and drugs being sold openly.
That is why I proposed a community wide Mt. Hope Crime Watch to kick start this change of climate. We have ordered our first 15 Crime Watch signs. The CW is a long term project and it must gather steam, not lose steam. The CW alone will not solve our problems, and it is not designed to arrest criminals or stop all crime, but it must function on a more symbolic level, as a symbol of the change in climate, a change in the culture, as honest citizens take back their streets and community from the small, (< .05) percent of very, disruptive, even criminal residents who have cast Mt. Hope is such bad light for so long. The CW is but a small, though important step on this path.
We need to take other steps, though, in order to enact this culture change. We need to convince our civic leadership, the Mayor. etc. that Mt. Hope is ready for change, that it can no longer be business as usual here in Mt. Hope. It will not be accomplished by one or two lones voices crying out from the wilderness: it will take concerted, coordinated effort by a coterie of committed individuals and leaders willing to make the committment of time and effort neccessary to make a difference. We need to stay the course and not let the passive nay-sayers nor the ambivalent wafflers discourage us in our committment.
A change in culture will not take place, though, unless we have a counter balance of at least 5%, consisting of citizens who feel adamant about the climate shift. That is one reason that I proposed a strong recruiting drive to reach residents and to build GCCC membership to over 200 residents. We need active members, leaders, who can work within a team concept, not free lancing, but developing a cohesive agenda, a plan of action, and systematically pursuring it through to completion.
In order to change the negative aspects of life in Mt. Hope, drugs, theft, litter, vandalism, I believe it is necessary to focus unrelentingly upon these negative aspects, to shine a bright light upon them, because these are problems that thrive in the shadows. These problems don’t like to be talked about openly, they don’t like to be illuminated.
At the same time, I believe that we can also focus on what is good about Mt. Hope and even contribute to the positive quality of life in Mt. Hope. But again, who will make that contribution? I am not talking about the shallow, clichéd, local boosterism so prevalent in some community organizations, but an organized effort to do something positive, something physical, something that requires a commitment of time and energy. Surely some GCCC members who value positive community contributions can step forward and form a Community Relations Committee, within GCCC, to set up programs that make positive contributions to the Mt. Hope Community. It must be part of the culture change. We must make a postive contribution beyond the elimination of the negative.
I have stressed recruiting for the last 4 months and again I stress recruiting. Recruiting for the GCCC and for the Crime Watch. We need more members, we need more leaders to work within our organization. We need to kick off the chains of discouragment and generate ideas, create, innovate, workshop, and renew our committment to our community. Mt. Hope is, afterall, our community.
John Twomey
Posted at 11:28 AM | Community | Comments (0)
Mt. Hope Clean Up Day
Mt. Hope Clean Up Day -- Saturday, June 18
location: Billy Taylor Park
Mt. Hope Clean Up Day
It's time to Clean up and Green up our neighborhood.
On Saturday, June 18th at 11:00am, volunteers will be meeting at Billy Taylor Park (located on the corner of Cypress St. and Camp). Our Mission is to clean up some of the debris and litter that has accumulated on our streets and sidewalks throughout the winter.
This is a great opportunity for you to meet your neighbors and clean the streets you live on so that our community will be a beautiful place to live. We will provide gloves and trash bags to all those helping. Following the clean up we will meet back at the park for a BBQ with all the volunteers that helped out.
If you would like to participate or have any questions regarding the clean up day and BBQ please call Matt Stone at 454-0237.
Your help will make a difference and your reward will be a neighborhood for all to enjoy.
Matt Stone
Posted at 12:02 PM | Issues | Comments (2)
Street Sweeping Confirmed!
I can confirm that they finally swept my street sometime between Wedensday night and Thursday morning. That's one time. I think they are supposed to do it three times. I'm going to count them.
I formerly lived in a city that cleaned every street at least once a month from April to the first snow. That is at least 8 times a year and only 4 months, the worst winter months, between cleanings.
That city was not a jewel, not a state capital.
Permanent signs were on every street with the schedule: for instance mine was swept the first Monday and Tuesday of every month: one day the odd numbered side of the street the next day the other. On the day before a district was to be cleaned cardboard posters were hung on the streets remninding residents to not park there when the cleaning was scheduled. On the day of the cleaning, a city truck would drive slowly down the street announcing over a loud speaker that the street sweepers would be there in one hour and to please move your car if needed or it would be towed. Just before the sweepers arrived a few tow trucks would begin towing any cars left on the street. They had provided more than sufficient warning, and this schedule and system had been in place without change for many, many years. The work was done by the DPW not contracted out. It worked very well.
I do think that with the ammount of debris generated by a Providence winter, 8 months is too long to go between street sweeping. That is how long my street went.
I also find the scheduling to be confusing and hard to find.
I think Providence could do a better job with street cleaning.
Of course they could say that if you want to get your streets cleaned every month we can raise your taxes and hire more DPW workers and machines.
But taxes were lower where I used to live.
I'm afraid we will get our taxes raised anyway, but not our streets cleaned more effeciently or often enough.
I have no suggestions. I just wonder why, if they began sweeping in April, it took until June 8th to clean my street for the very first time, some 69 days.
Now, what about those potholes?
Did anyone identify any needy potholes and call them in to the DPW?
Can the City do something about this heat and humidity? : ) I wish.
Let's get some postings up while we can.
John Twomey
Posted at 11:46 AM | Issues | Comments (1)
