Did you know that Salisbury taxpayers are paying for a "community organizer" to help revitalize the Church Street / Doverdale neighborhood? Did you know that this area of the city seems to be getting all kinds of "special treatment"? Did you know that Salisbury Mayor Barrie Tilghman and her husband own property in that area? Read more ...
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8 comments:
You might want to check the money facts before you talk about the Church Street neighborhood. A lot of the things happening here are because of the CSAFE program - which is largely funded by grant money from the national program.
From what I understand, Ms. Parks' paycheck comes from the CSAFE program, which is administered by the city - because there is no real neighborhood organization. (and yes, a big part of the reason for no neighborhood organization is that the city stuck its nose in when one was being organized, thereby causing the group to give up)
Currently, the churches are the driving force over here. They have stepped up to the plate big time.
The strong police presence is also partially paid for by grant money. (I think it is added in to the SPD budget, but I'm not completely sure) If we didn't have the grant money, the police would not be able to work OT, or run the undercover operations. I think some of the funding also goes to the Sheriff's Dept. for the deputies in the schools. It also pays for programs that keep our kids off the streets - most of which are run through the churches, however, there is a program at East Salisbury as well as one at Wicomico Middle.
A lot goes on over here that does not make the news...good stuff as well as bad. As far as your *where is Barrie* question, I think we may have impressed on her (or at least, people close to her) that having the city be overtly involved and calling the shots would backfire big-time.
You don't hear a lot from the residents, and there is not much on the news, but there is a grassroots type of revitalization going on. If anything is going to change over here, the residents need to be the ones to do it. Hopefully, with new homeowners, courtesy of Habitat for Humanity, several churches, caring landlords(I know, almost a joke - but there are a few decent ones!), and, basically, people who want a better life for themselves, we will make a difference.
The problem with a special task force for one area is that the perpetrators then simply go to other areas, and there is little or no improvement in the City as a whole.
Alot of people own property in that area. Anything that helps clean it up is appreciated. Not caring if the mayor or who owns property their. It"s money well spent.
Church Street -
Most of your points are well thought out. However, when you or anyone else states that it is grant money. Where do you think this grant money comes from? TAXPAYERS! BTW - CSAFE is a Maryland program.
Why should the taxpayers fund a "community organizer"? Tax dollars should not be going to fund community groups to organize. "National Night Out" is a great case. When Camden started doing it, "National Night Out" in Salisbury was a volunteer-led effort. Now its a taxpayer funded effort.
If the people of the Church Street / Doverdale neighborhood can't organize themselves without taxpayer help, why do you think that they will succeed once you are no longer the cause du jour of Barrie Tilghman? And make no mistake, Louise Smith is merely a figure head in this. If you piss off Barrie Tilghman, your money will dry up. Louise Smith will NEVER stick her neck out for you to oppose Tilghman.
Fortunately for you guys, Tilghman and her husband own property in your neighborhood and want to see the value of that property rise. If they sell that property - WATCH OUT!
when willthe smith street area get any help?
HELP!
HELP!
I stand corrected - it is a state program, not federal. And yes, the program itself is taxpayer-funded, I believe the gov's Office of Crime Control & Prevention is heavily involved. Then again, all of law enforcement is funded by the taxpayers.
CSAFE stands for Collaborative Supervision And Focused Enforcement. It is designed to focus law enforcement efforts in an effective manner. (of course, as we all know, it doesn't quite work out too well - *nod* to Anon 228)
This is the new CSAFE - when I began attending their meetings, there were more participants, from groups other than law & code enforcement. They were surprised to see an actual resident, though! Now, there are almost always a couple of residents.
I seem to recall Ms. Chambers saying that GOCCP wanted to concentrate of enforcement instead of prevention, so funding might be lost for some of the programs. IIRC, she will be trying to get the "prevention" funding from other grant sources.
Originally, Ms. Parks was the CSAFE coordinator; she was not touted as a "community organizer" until today. Her job, originally, was to coordinate between the various agencies involved in the neighborhood (police, sheriff, churches, weed&seed, juvy justice, state's atty, mayor's office, local program coordinator/managers, etc.) and also to try to gain the trust of the people who live here, and get them involved. I suppose you could call her a community organizer if you wanted to stretch the definition, but she is not out there haranguing people to get involved. (Or to riot - which, if the city bigwigs came out, might happen. People over here do not like or trust our government. When the mayor and council prez. were doing their saturday morning walks a few months ago, they had a police car parked on the corner)
You are absolutely correct that any neighborhood organization that is attempted should not be done at taxpayer expense. It has been made clear to the CSAFE participants that any true neighborhood organization will be outside of their control.(we hope it was clear, anyway...can't get much clearer than "if we decide to start a neighborhood group, you will not be involved in it")
I don't know how much of the program money has gone to National Night Out. I do know that it is a great community event, and deserves our support.
inquiring minds want to know, where do Barrie and Matt own property?
Barrie and Matt have property on Benny Street, right next to Liquor Board Haemel.
Go here and type Benny into the street name:
http://sdatcert3.resiusa.org/rp_rewrite/searchtype.aspx?County=23&SearchType=street
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