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00SL2
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Dave Starr, where and what time are these meetings being held? We're having a local meeting Thursday and I'll certainly bring this up because it's the first I've heard of the joint effort other than the Citywide Crime Watch which I haven't heard has had any activity for a year(?)
Flint block clubs banding together for stronger voice
Posted by Bryn Mickle | The Flint Journal February 11, 2008 16:20PM
Categories: Community: Flint
FLINT -- The city could be in store for one heck of a block party.
Neighborhood block clubs and crime watches across the city have begun banding together to form a mega-club that would give citizens a louder voice in community discussions.
"It's a huge umbrella. We haven't seen much of that," said Earnestine Towns, 71, president of the Bonner Park block club.
Tuesday morning meetings of block club and crime-watch leaders
gave grown from a handful of folks last year to upward of 50 people from around the city -- roughly a quarter of the 200 block clubs and 15 crime watches currently operating in Flint, said acting Flint police Chief Gary Hagler.
Some are highly organized with newsletters and regular meetings, while others are more informal with neighbors watching out for each other's homes.
But longtime city residents say it seems like interest in such groups is peaking.
Trumbull Avenue block club president Alvin Reid believes the surging interest is a sign that residents are ready to reclaim their city from blight and crime.
"We're the people, and we pay the taxes," said Reid, who has lived in Flint for more than 50 years.
The Trumbull group began about 10 years ago, and Reid said participation fluctuates as various issues pop up around the neighborhood.
As vice president of the recently formed
National Block Club Coalition -- a Flint-based non profit
group that promotes the formation of block clubs -- Reid wants to see more clubs working together.
At a recent coalition meeting, about 30 block club representatives discussed everything from blight to the number of vacant homes in their neighborhoods.
With residents across the city comparing notes, Reid said it's easier to get a handle on what's going on in other areas.
"If the eastside is having a problem with break-ins, we're all having a problem," said Reid, 68. "We're coming together."
The residents' increased participation has not gone unnoticed by Flint police, who host the Tuesday morning meetings and make regular appearances at citizen meetings around the city.
Flint police Lt. Phil Smith called the groups essential to efforts to drive down drugs, prostitution and other crimes.
Federal grants worth upward of $225,000 for anti-drug initiatives are often tied to community groups, and Smith said the city likely would lose that money if people didn't take part in those efforts.
Smith has gone so far to give such groups his cellphone number, adding residents don't hesitate to use it regardless of the hour.
"If citizens give their own time free of charge, we at the police department need to be accessible to them," said Smith.
Drumming up interest in neighborhood groups hasn't been easy, said David Starr, who has lived on Milbourne Avenue near Dayton Avenue since 1968.
About a third of the homes on the block belong to the club, and Starr said more are joining.
"It takes a little bit of time, but people are slowly getting on board," he said.
Doris McDaniel, 62, said part of the challenge is convincing younger people and those who don't own property that they have a stake in the neighborhood's future.
"It seems like the renters just don't care," said McDaniel, adding that participation in her Sterling Street-Myrtle Street club is at a high with 11 homeowners involved.
"We're joined together at the hip. We want to hold onto what we have," she said.
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Permalink:
http://blog.mlive.com/flintjournal/newsnow/2008/02/flint_block_clubs_banding_toge.html |
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Mon Feb 11, 2008 8:36 pm |
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last time here
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we've had a block club for over 30 years here. we know every
home with bad guys in the neighborhood.... |
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Mon Feb 11, 2008 8:44 pm |
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00SL2
F L I N T O I D
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| We have, too. Has your group joined this larger one? |
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Mon Feb 11, 2008 8:49 pm |
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twotap
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Good for you folks sticking together is what it takes.  |
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Mon Feb 11, 2008 9:01 pm |
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last time here
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i don't know. the new president isn't as informative as i and others
have been. we do most of our stuff regardless!!! 
illegally parked cars
watching each others property
watching and busting dope houses
kids
picnics
trees, signs, etc. |
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Mon Feb 11, 2008 9:12 pm |
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twotap
F L I N T O I D
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| Do they still refer to you as President LT like they do Clinton evertime they speak of him???? |
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Mon Feb 11, 2008 9:25 pm |
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last time here
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nah.. just by my nickname...i ain't in to ego-stuff!!  |
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Mon Feb 11, 2008 9:34 pm |
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Dave Starr
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The meeting mentioned is every Tuesday at 10:00am, at the North Side Ministation at ML King & Bishop.
Sorry i couldn't post this sooner - I spent 9 hours working on the car yesterday afternoon & evening. |
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I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Tue Feb 12, 2008 8:32 am |
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