Town Hall Meeting...THIS SATURDAY!! (1/5/08)

The Town Hall meeting will be this Saturday, in the Educational Outreach Center (Community Room/Rent office) at 6601 Bexar St. Below is an agenda based on what several people in Turner Courts have noticed and are concerned about. The meeting will start at 10:00 a.m. and should be over by 11:30.

We plan to present the issues as a community, let the city respond to how they can/will address those issues, we will ask any questions of the city, and, finally, the city will present next steps for them and let us know how we can work with them to make sure those things are accomplished.

I. Welcome and introductions
II. Why are we here?
III. Presentation of the issues Rochester Park community
a. Crime (Monique and Wyshina Harris)
i. Police patrol
1. How often can we expect police to be patrolling? Should they patrol or park?
2. What is the expected response time?
3. How do reported statistics (i.e. calling in for shots, robberies, vandalism, etc.) contribute to more police presence?
4. Homeless men sleeping on playgrounds in the mornings (in Turner Courts)
5. Open drug deals around the play grounds (in Turner Courts)
ii. Lighting
1. Present list of street lights that are out or dim
b. Transportation (Lori Cullom)
i. DART
1. Doesn’t run through Turner Courts after 7:51
a. People have late jobs
b. Bus stops are provided so we would like to utilize them
2. What can we do to help and make sure buses continue to run?
3. Hours residents need bus service
ii. Street signs
1. No directional signs/highway signs telling how to get to 45, 175, etc.
c. Code enforcement (Sylvia Baylor)
i. Cracked sidewalks
d. Housing (Sylvia Baylor)
i. DHA
1. Playgrounds
a. Broken glass in playground areas
b. Lack of wood chips for children’s safety
c. Homeless men sleeping in playgrounds
d. Open drug deals
2. Apartments
a. Slow or limited maintenance
e. City Park—Rochester (Monique)
i. Lots of bugs (needs to be exterminated)
ii. Wires sticking out on playground equipment
f. Economic development
i. Lack of businesses (i.e. grocery stores)
g. Schools (Wyshina Harris)
h. Communication (Dana Arnick)
i. Will phone booths be taken out of the neighborhood or will pay phones still be available for those without cell phones?
IV. City addresses the issues presented
V. Next steps
a. City
b. Community